“You Know You Suck, Right” SNL Roasts Leavitt as Trump Epstein Scandal Takes Center Stage

Saturday Night Live opened with a sharp and playful jab at White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The show portrayed her as tense and defensive as she faced questions about President Donald Trump and his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The sketch arrived days after new documents showed Trump’s name in many Epstein related emails, and SNL wasted no time turning the moment into comedy.

Ashley Padilla played Leavitt and stepped to the podium with an eager grin. “I’m just so excited to be here and answer your friendly questions,” she said. She then added, “As you all know, there was no news this week. Nothing happening with the president. No weird information was revealed. No one had any accusations that rhyme with ‘eda file.’”

That line set the tone for the sketch. It painted Leavitt as someone willing to pretend that several thousand pages of emails had simply fallen from the sky without meaning. SNL used the moment to highlight her attempts earlier in the week to steer reporters away from anything related to Epstein.

The show also poked at the real world tension between Leavitt and CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins. Chloe Fineman stepped into the role of Collins and delivered her questions with quick precision. Leavitt opened the floor by saying, “I’ll open the floor to questions, starting with Kaitlan Collins from CNN — who I openly hate.”

Collins did not waste her chance. “I think we definitely need to start with the 20,000 Epstein emails,” she said. “Why does President Trump’s name appear in so many of them?”

Leavitt shot back with a sharp insult that SNL delivered without hesitation. “You know you suck, right?” she said. The audience laughed, but the moment also mirrored the real press tension that has followed the administration this week.

The sketch then shifted to comments Leavitt actually made during a recent briefing. When asked about the content of the new emails, she had insisted they helped Trump. SNL held nothing back as Collins pressed again. “Trump has asked the DOJ to investigate Democrats’ ties to Epstein, but is anyone investigating Trump?”

Padilla, as Leavitt, repeated the same defense word for word. “Look, the only thing these emails prove is that President Trump did nothing wrong,” she said. “If anything, his crime was loving too much…and possibly too young.” The line landed with the audience because it pushed the absurdity right to the edge.

As the reporters in the sketch continued to push, Leavitt begged for a change of topic. “Seriously, can we please move off the topic of Epstein?” she asked. A reporter agreed and immediately asked if the administration had sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Argentina. Leavitt did not waste a second before changing direction again. “We shall return to Epstein!” she said.

Finally SNL brought in James Austin Johnson as Trump. He stepped to the podium with his usual impersonation energy. “Jeffrey Epstein, I barely knew the guy, OK,” he said. He added, “As evidenced by the thousands of pictures of us together, dancing and grinding our teeth at various parties — always leering and pointing at something just off camera. Probably a book we’re excited to read.”

The line earned a loud reaction from the live audience. It brought the sketch full circle by mocking Trump’s repeated claims that he barely knew Epstein, even as public records and photos say otherwise.

Catch the hilarious cold open below.

Featured image via X screengrab