“The man, the myth, the liability”: SNL’s “Pete Hegseth” shares cold open with new “Kash Patel”

Jost’s Hegseth stuck to a now well-worn bit: an oversized glass of “scotch” in hand, he “took questions” from the press while mostly ignoring them, pivoting instead to insults and non-answers. The sketch nodded to recent headlines, including Hegseth’s widely mocked citation of a Bible verse that doesn’t exist — though it does sound suspiciously like something out of “Pulp Fiction.”

But the biggest reaction came from Ansari’s new appearance as Patel, which the show played for blunt, self-aware laughs.

“I’m a trailblazer. I’m the first Indian person to suck at their job,” Ansari’s Patel said. “Everyone says Indian people are smart, hardworking, incredibly intelligent. I prove without a shadow of a doubt that we can be just as incapable and incompetent as the whites.”

With a high five from Jost’s Hegseth, the line landed well, cutting through the sketch’s chaos with a joke that felt both pointed and intentionally over the top — that “SNL” sweet spot.

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The episode, featuring double-duty guest host and musical guest Olivia Rodrigo, leaned more on character beats than policy specifics, with the cold open focusing on tone and persona rather than headlines.

It’s a formula the show has returned to frequently in these past few seasons: take a recognizable political figure, exaggerate the performance, and let the punchlines do the rest.