:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Aziz-Ansari-Saturday-Night-Live-050326-2a29580335c946969d9a89c2f316d7f5.jpg)
Aziz Ansari as Kash Patel on āSaturday Night Liveā.Credit:Ā NBC
First up to the podium wasĀ Ashley Padilla as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who announced, āAs some of you know, Iām about to go on maternity leave. Thatās when you tell President Trump about your maternity and he says, āLeave.āā
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Kash-Patel-Aziz-Ansari-050326-45c833a64e0c49589d4b568da7db1953.jpg)
He went on to claim that the FBI has conducted a thorough investigation into the alleged attempted assassination before telling the room full of reporters, āYou guys should not be reporting the lies and the gossip. You should be reporting on the historic nature of my appointment. Iām a trailblazer! Iām the first Indian person to suck at their job.ā
He continued, āEveryone 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.ā
Patel then opened the floor to questions, which he received with his typical overly casual attitude. When one of the journalists asked if he was concerned about Trump being angry at him, Patel replied, āHell, no! President Trump loves me. Everybody loves me.ā
He added, āEven the Correspondentsā Dinner shooter said, āKill everyone but Mr. Patel.ā You get a shout-out like that in a psychoās manifesto, you must be doing something right.ā
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Aziz-Ansari-Colin-Jost-Saturday-Night-Live-050326-30e0a7c207394e08ba6fd6d5c4957df6.jpg)
When another reporter pressed Patel about rumors that he drinks excessively ā an allegation made in a new report fromĀ The AtlanticĀ ā the FBI director took it in stride⦠and began listing off eerily specific scenarios.
āLet me be clear: This FBI director has never been drunk or hungover on the job,ā he began. āThis FBI director has never used taxpayer dollars to take a private jet to fly him and his girlfriend to three different Buffalo Wild Wings across the country to see if they could taste the difference.ā
He added, āAnd this FBI director has definitelyĀ notĀ stood on top of a couch at the VIP room of Tao nightclub and Asian bistro and shouted, āWho wants the nuclear codes?! J.K., I aināt got āem!āā
The real Patel threatened to sueĀ The AtlanticĀ over the story published last month, which detailed his alleged heavy drinking and how members of his security detail have on multiple occasions had difficulty waking him.
Patel responded to the report withĀ an X postĀ on his official FBI account addressing what he called āthe fake newsā over āthe hit piece lies you write about me.ā
The cold open saw reporters confrontingĀ SNLās Patel about allegations that he once had a āfreakoutā after he couldnāt log into an internal computer system ā a claim also made in theĀ AtlanticĀ report.
āThatās just more lies,ā Ansariās Patel insisted. āIāve always been able to log into my email, except for a brief 36-hour period of time when I forgot I had changed my password to CashMeOutside69.ā
Watch Ansari debut his portrayal of Patel in the cold open clip above.



