Pete Davidson returned to Saturday Night Live, this time to play Donald Trump’s border czar as he tries, without much success, to teach restraint to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after the chaos in Minneapolis.
Davidson doesn’t look much at all like Homan, but the point was to skewer the fact that Homan, who was the face of the family separation policy in Donald Trump’s first term, is now the one being brought in to bring some moderation to the paramilitary-like operation. Homan also reportedly was caught on tape accepting $50,000 in cash by undercover FBI agents when he was a private consultant. Homan has denied he took the money.
The skit came in the aftermath of the death of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both killed by federal agents in incidents in Minneapolis that Trump administration figures initially defended as acts of self-defense. But bystander video quickly contradicted Trump administration claims.
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In the skit, Davidson’s Homan addressed a group of federal agents, who very quickly reveal their lack of training.
“Let’s talk about use of force. When do we want to use force?” Davidson’s Homan asked the agents.
“Right away,” one agent responded.
“No, think of the opposite,” Homan responded.
“Preemptively,” another agent answered.
“Also no. It’s kind of a trick question, because we actually don’t want to use force. Remember, the job, ultimately, is about keeping America safe from … what?”
Another agent responded, “This could be wrong, but, Don Lemon?”
Lemon was arrested this week on federal charges related to his coverage of an anti-ICE protest earlier this month in a St. Paul, MN church. He was released on his own recognizance Friday, but First Amendment groups have widely condemned the Trump administration as trying to chill news organizations in their reporting on the immigration crackdown.
After last weekend’s shooting of Pretti led to Republican calls for congressional hearings, Trump put Homan in charge of the Minnesota operation, with Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino removed from his role leading the federal crackdown in the state. Bovino’s appearance — with a buzzcut and wearing a long military overcoat — were compared to the look of a Third Reich German.
In tonight’s skit, Davidson’s Homan said, “I’m sure a lot of you are wondering why Greg Bovino, the last guy, was dismissed. I want to stress that it wasn’t because he did a bad job, or publicly lied about the shooting of an American citizen, or even, uh, dressed like a Nazi. It was that he was filmed doing those things, and the president don’t like that.”
Neither Good nor Pretti were mentioned by name in the skit. But there was a reference to the fact that Pretti was carrying a weapon, although bystander video did not show that he brandished it, and showed that a federal agent had retrieved the gun before he was shot.
In the skit, one of the ICE agents asked Homan, “Some of these people protesting have guns that shouldn’t be allowed, right?”
Homan responded, “Well, let’s flip it around, right? How many of you went to the Stop the Steal protest with a loaded automatic weapon.”
All the hands go up.
Davidson’s Homan replied, “Okay, that is all of you, so you got to do better. Look, I’m Tom Homan. okay. I’m the separating-families-at-the-border guy. I’m the guy on film taking a $50,000 bribe guy, and you are all making me look like the upstanding, reasonable adult in the room. That’s crazy.”
The skit ended with Davidson’s Homan telling the agents, “Look, the situation out there has been rough, and we need to lower the temperature. So let’s get out there. Let’s show some restraint. Let’s do our job without violating anyone’s rights as Americans. Can you do that?”
One agent responded, “No.”
Homan replied, “Well, I had to ask. Maybe just try not to get filmed.”