James Talarico, recently elected senator for Texas, made a surprise appearance in the cold open of Saturday Night Live, the NBC program, and used the moment to direct a message to President Donald Trump about the possibility of working together.
His appearance came near the end of the opening sketch, which included Trump impersonator James Austin Johnson, and was met with applause from the audience. Talarico's presence followed a previous appearance by Trump in a David S. Pumpkins sketch, and this time the cold open format had the president interrupting the action to ramble, according to Variety.
During his appearance, Talarico joked about the frequent fundraising messages he receives, which ask him for a five-dollar contribution. The lighthearted tone of the segment contrasted with the political weight of his election.
Talarico won the Texas Senate seat for the Democratic Party, a party switch in a position that until now had been held by Republicans. It is the first change of party for that seat in decades, and the race was described as historic for the Texas state Senate.
Reports published on November 7 and 8, 2026 agree that the message directed at Trump was in the spirit of collaboration, although the versions differ in the exact framing of his words, so the full content of that message cannot be confirmed with precision.