Pete Hegseth performs slam poetry in SNLs Republican midterm ad cold open

Saturday Night Live (SNL) utilized the upcoming midterm elections as inspiration for a series of impressions of prominent Republican figures. As part of the Oct. 3 cold open, staffers from the Republican National Committee (Andrew Dismukes and Ashley Padilla) invited Republican politicians to create advertisements urging their constituents to vote.

The segment commenced with Secretary of State Marco Rubio (played by Marcello Hernandez) delivering an impassioned speech in Spanish, criticizing former President Donald Trump for deceiving everyone, including himself.

Next, wheelchair-bound Senator Mitch McConnell (Mikey Day) entered the scene, raising a peace sign and attempting to disrupt the cold open by shouting, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" Vice President JD Vance (Jeremy Culhane) subsequently made an appearance, but his ad and presidential aspirations were quickly dismissed.

The tone shifted towards aggressive masculinity with the entrance of Pete Hegseth, portrayed by Colin Jost. Hegseth consumed Bero, a non-alcoholic beer modeled after Spider-Man's "New Non-Alcoholic Bitch Beer," and directed insults towards the audience, referring to them as "schlong donkeys." In a surreal turn of events, Hegseth broke into a peculiar slam poetry routine, incorporating bongos, homophobic and transphobic content into his performance.

Finally, the segment concluded with a return of President Trump, played by James Austin Johnson. Trump displayed a readiness to contest any election results unfavorable to his party. The segment concluded with a note of levity, acknowledging the fun aspect of the bongos used in Hegseth's slam poetry.