Donald Trump

Kids Ask Santa About Men Accused of Sexual Misconduct in ‘SNL' Cold Open

"Is President Trump on the naughty list?"

"Saturday Night Live's" attempt to get in the Christmas spirit was quickly stifled when kids asked Santa some hard-hitting, uncomfortable questions.

In the cold open, kids visiting a mall Santa Claus (Kenan Thompson) and his elf helper (Kate McKinnon) wasted no time to ask about the North Pole and his reindeer. Instead, Thompson was asked questions like, "What did Al Franken do?" 

"I guess you could say that Al Franken is on Santa's naughty list this year," he said.

This week, Franken resigned from the Senate following a number of sexual harassment allegations against him. In his announcement, Franken pointed out that President Donald Trump and GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore still have the support of the Republican party, despite both men facing a number of sexual misconduct allegations.

"Is President Trump on the naughty list?" one little girl asked. 

"Well, you know, Santa tries to stay out of political matters," Thompson said. "Our president may have said or done a few naughty things."

"Nineteen accusers. Google it," McKinnon added.

Thompson tried to pivot the conversation by looking for a positive lesson in all of the news about men accused of sexual assault. But the little girl had a different takeaway from all of it. 

"I learned that if you admit you did something wrong, you get in trouble," she said. "But if you deny it, they let you keep your job."

Children also put Santa in the hot seat about other social issues, including kneeling football players, the GOP tax bill, opioids, the U.S. embassy in Israel and sexual misconduct allegations against former "Today" host Matt Lauer.

McKinnon tried to reassure another girl that while things seem "truly mind-bendingly insane," everything will be OK, just "maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not for another 3 years, 42 days and 24 minutes."

"Weekend Update" kicked off with mention of Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Wednesday in an unprecedented move

"Trump basically made the announcement and then he just flicked his cigarette and walked away in slow motion," co-host Colin Jost said.

Co-host Michael Che called out the Democrats' attempt to "paint itself the 'party of the moral high ground'" by forcing Franken to step down from the Senate amid the sexual misconduct allegations, compared to the GOP's embrace of Senatorial candidate Roy Moore despite his alleged past sexual misconduct.

"The Democrats hold themselves to a higher standard than anyone else, which is why they always lose," he said.

"Calm down, Democrats, you're still politicians," Che continued. "You're the party of the morality the same way Don Jr. is the handsome Trump brother -- nobody actually likes you."

Actor James Franco hosted the show for the fourth time, but he wasn't the only celebrity to be part of the opening monologue. Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Steve Martin made appearances in the crowd, all claiming to be there for musical guest SZA and made jealous comments about how they weren't hosting. 

SZA performed two songs: "The Weekend" and "Love Galore."

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