Saturday Night Live Post-Election Cold Open Surpasses 10 Million YouTube Views to Lead Season 52

Saturday Night Live's November 7, 2026 cold open featuring a surprise cameo by Texas Senator-elect James Talarico alongside James Austin Johnson's Donald Trump surpassed 10 million views on YouTube within 48 hours to become the show's most-watched video of Season 52, LateNighter's Jed Rosenzweig reported on November 9, 2026.

In the opening sketch—whichalso featured Sarah Sherman as Chuck Schumer and Kenan Thompson as Hakeem Jeffries—Talarico interrupted Johnson's recurring freeze-frame monologue device, froze Trump himself, and delivered the show's 'Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!' opener. By Monday afternoon, November 9, the clip's 10-million-plus YouTube tally had overtaken Season 52's two previous online leaders: the early-October 'Republican Midterm Ads' cold open and the Season 52 premiere's 'Dream Academy' K-pop parody featuring musical guest KATSEYE, each of which stood just above 8 million views.

Rosenzweig noted that while the cold open led Saturday Night Live's YouTube channel for the season, first-time host Druski's sketches outperformed the cold open on TikTok.