I’ve enjoyed the performances of quite a few Saturday Night Live cast members over the past several seasons, from breakout star Ashley Padilla to the long-serving Kenan Thompson. Someone else who deserves props for their work is James Austin Johnson, who’s become particularly famous for his impression of U.S. President Donald Trump. Considering how the imitation has taken off, Austin has now reached the point at which fans approach him in public, and I can’t get over what some of them say to him.
Austin is far from the first person to mimic Donald Trump on SNL, as the likes of Darrell Hammond and Alec Baldwin (who won an Emmy for his work on the show) have as well. I’d argue, however, that Austin’s portrayal has hit the cultural zeitgeist in an even stronger way. Anyone who needs evidence of that should listen to what Johnson shared during his recent appearance on the Downside Podcast (part of which was shared to TikTok). The comic specifically explained what it’s like meeting older fans who approach him near his home:
I live [in the] Upper West Side, so I got a lot of beautiful, left-wing old biddies, who are like, ‘You’re sticking it to that cheeto. You’re sticking it to him.’ [They say,] ‘That guy, does he want to kill you? I’ll stop him.’
Honestly, a part of me can’t tell if he’s joking but, even if he’s overexaggerating, I just find this too funny. I can also easily see some older admirers coming up to the Tennessee native and sharing their takes on his depiction of POTUS. Such reactions fall in line with the praise Johnson has received for his take on Trump, which emphasizes the businessman-turned-reality TV star-turned-politician’s stream of consciousness. For an example of what Austin’s take looks like, check out this cold open from Season 51:
Despite Johnson’s humorous take on the attention, it’s fair to wonder if he’s afraid of Donald Trump. He previously answered that during an appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, Johnson asserted that he had “never been afraid of anything ever.” From the A Complete Unknown actor’s vantage point, he’s “doing a version of [Trump] that I feel is sustainable.” In his recent podcast interview, he also said he didn’t believe Trump supporters felt “targeted” by his comedy due to it not being aimed at them.
Johnson is a man of many talents, though, as he's made great contributions to a number of other sketches during his tenure at SNL, which began back in 2021. What’s ironic is that as great as Johnson is as Trump, he claims the show won’t let him do his best impression: Rolling Stone editor David Fricke. Austin has been trying to pitch it for a while, it seems, and I hope his efforts are eventually successful.
More immediately, I’m looking forward to seeing James Austin Johnson back on stage at Studio 8H, where he’ll once again don the suit, prosthetics and hair piece to play the Commander-in-Chief. There’s no telling what Johnson might be called upon to do as Trump in order to keep up with the ever-flowing political landscape. Whatever the case, though, I expect the actor will continue to field responses from fans and roll with them as they come.
Saturday Night Live Season 52 premieres on NBC on September 26 amid the 2026 TV schedule. In the meantime, warm up for Johnson’s reprisal of Trump by streaming past episodes with a Peacock subscription.
