US TV comedy skewers Clinton-Trump debate
Live from New York, it's ... Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump sniffing and spouting off words like "yuuge" and "Ji-na" in a parody of the US presidential candidate's debate.
Baldwin delivered in his new role as Trump as the popular "Saturday Night Live" comedy show began its new season.
Sporting wavy blonde hair, an orange spray-tan and a lip-puckering scowl, Baldwin skewered the Republican presidential candidate's debate performance at Monday at Hofstra University.
"Our jobs are fleeing this country. They're going to Mexico, they're going to Ji-na. I'd stop that. If Hillary knew how she would have done it already, end of story. I won the debate, I stayed calm just like I promised, and it is over. Good night, Hofstra," Baldwin's Trump said, as he attempts to leave.
Clinton -- portrayed by SNL regular Kate McKinnon -- walked onstage aided by a cane, a tweak at her recent bout with pneumonia.
McKinnon's Clinton said that Trump's tax plan is "not just trickle-down economics, it's -- I don't know, I guess if I had to call it something off the top of the old dome, with no prep whatsoever, I don't know, I guess I'd call it Trumped-up, trickle-down economics."
Clinton, who spent days preparing for the debate, has a reputation of being a stiff and scripted politician.
After claiming to have "the best judgment. And the best temperament," Baldwin's Trump blamed Clinton and President Barack Obama for tampering with his microphone.
The reaction? "I think I'm going to be president," McKinnon smiled.
Also mocked: Trump's repeated interruptions, his claim that climate change is a Chinese hoax and Clinton's use of 1996 Miss Universe Alicia Machado as "a strong, beautiful, political prop."
Machado claims that Trump -- who at the time owned the beauty pageant -- mocked her as "Miss Piggy" when she gained weight, and called her "Miss Housekeeper" because of her Latina heritage.
SNL has a history of mocking politicians going back to Gerald Ford in the 1970s, portrayed by Chevy Chase as a clumsy bumbler after the president once tripped and fell down an airplane staircase.
A notable recent impersonation was Tina Fey, who was merciless as she portrayed Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in 2008 as clueless and unprepared.