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"Hope Hicks" Joined ‘SNL’ Weekend Update To Say Farewell To Trump & His White House

by Joseph D. Lyons

As Saturday Night Live returned from its Winter Olympics hiatus, politics took center stage with yet another member of the Trump White House joining the program. This time, SNL's Cecily Strong played Hope Hicks on "Weekend Update" and poked fun at her impending departure from D.C.

Hicks bid farewell to those she is leaving behind in the Trump administration with plenty of "inside jokes" about Russia, Ivanka, and even Kellyanne Conway. "I really am going to miss all my friends from my semester abroad at the White House," she read from her prepared goodbye statement. To give the skit an angsty teen feel, Vitamin C's "Graduation (Friends Forever)" started playing in the background.

"Some people dance in our lives and quickly go," SNL's Hicks continued, "but they always leave footprints on our hearts and fingerprints on Russian documents. Oops!"

She couldn't decide what to compare the experience to, though, wavering between study abroad, a sleepover, and even summer camp.

You make all of these new friends, you barely get any sleep, and everybody leaves after eight weeks. Plus, there’s tons of cute guys there, and most are classic bad boys with crazy haircuts and breaking the law.

That might have hit the closest to home. Hicks, before her departure, was in the news for reportedly dating Rob Porter, a senior White House aide who resigned after he was accused by his two former wives of physical abuse. Porter called the allegations "simply false."

SNL's version of the outgoing White House communications director also acknowledged Hick's close relationship with the president. She is reported to have a strong bond with the president and be very good at reading his moods. On "Weekend Update," Strong portrayed it as similar to speaking gorilla sign language. "It was so much fun being the Trump translator," SNL's Hicks said, miming the president's supposed signing. "Like, 'Donald hungry,' 'Donald sleepy.'"

Unlike most people leaving the White House, the real Hicks is doing so in Trump's good graces. In a statement when her departure was announced, Trump said:

She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person. I will miss having her by my side, but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

SNL's version of Hicks had a message just for the president. "To Donny, I'll always be your 'Hopey,' because that is what you called me when you needed help when your red tie touched the toilet water." And she had a private message too. "Donny, never forget our little inside joke: The meeting was about Russian adoption."

Her tribute to Conway was even more biting. "You taught me that a strong woman can run a campaign and win," SNL's Hicks said. "And you showed me what I could turn into if I stick around too long. You're like the human version of the picture of black lungs on cigarette boxes."

The strongest feelings were saved for Ivanka, who SNL's Hicks called her "BFF":

You were the one who told me about this internship — or job — or what is it? And ever since then it's been like a never-ending sleepover. Like one where you wake up in the middle of the night and you open your eyes and you’re like, "Is that my friend’s dad in the doorway? Is he just like standing there watching us?" And it was that moment just stretched out over three years! Hearts girl!

To everyone else, she promised a get together after Trump is out of office. "I’ll see you guys at the reunion in 10 years. Seven with good behavior," SNL's Hicks joked.