Saturday Night Live targeted Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel with sharp jokes about their alleged drinking habits during its opening sketch. Comedian Colin Jost portrayed Hegseth holding a large glass of Scotch, while Aziz Ansari played Patel. The segment featured biting satire on their public personas.
In the show's opening sketch, Colin Jost appeared as Pete Hegseth at a mock press conference, gripping an oversized glass of Scotch on the rocks. Jost's character told reporters, “I said I only had one,” before passing the glass to Ashley Padilla, who played pregnant White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, adding, “Here you go, for the baby.” The bit then ridiculed Hegseth's speeches about striking Iran aggressively before shifting to Aziz Ansari as Kash Patel. Ansari's Patel character admitted with bulging eyes to being “the first Indian person to suck at his job,” poking fun at his leadership of the FBI. When a journalist questioned Patel's alleged drinking, Ansari delivered a punchy response in the clip. Representatives for Hegseth and Patel have not commented on the satire.
