SNL roasts Trump over bizarre attempt to sell Bibles

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Saturday night Live has set its sights on Donald Trump once again – this time over his ridiculous attempts to sell Bibles.

Days after late-night hosts skewered the former president for his unconvincing pivot to Bible salesmanship, the US sketch show lampooned him in a cold open during its latest episode, which was hosted by Ramy Youssef.

Earlier this week, Trump released an infomercial in which, ahead of Easter Sunday, he endorsed a “God Bless The USA” Bible – a special version inspired by the patriotic tune of the same name –  worth $60.

He wrote on Truth Social: “Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible,” and has since shared posts that have compared him to Jesus.

At the start of SNL, which aired on 30 March, actor James Austin Johnson appeared as Trump, telling the audience: “That’s right, it’s Easter. The time of year when I compare myself to Jesus Christ. That’s just the thing I do now, and people seem to be OK with it. I’m going to keep doing it.

“If you think that this is a bad look, imagine how weird it would be if I started selling Bibles. Well, I’m selling Bibles. Sounds like a joke, and in many ways it is, but it’s also very real. As you know, I love Bible. It’s my favourite book.”

Addressing Trump’s decision to sell his Bibles for $60, Johnson as the former president quipped: “But I am not doing this for the money. I’m doing this for the glory of God and for pandering and mostly for money.”

SNL was not the only one to have a field day roasting Trump. Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers and Jordan Klepper all poked fun at the former president’s attempt to look pious.

Colbert said that “making a profit is Trump’s religion”, and particularly ridiculed his claim that he has “many” copies of the Bible.

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“He has to have spare bibles because every time he holds one it bursts into flames,” Colbert joked.

Meanwhile, Meyers quipped: “Yep, the guy who’s about to go on trial for paying hush money to cover up an affair with a porn star is selling Bibles and, because it’s a Trump Bible, most of the 10 Commandments are blacked out.”