SNL’s Trump and Will Ferrell as Epstein’s ghost sing ‘Just the Two of Us’ in season finale ⁠22%

By Mike Bedigan⁠0%

5/17/2026, 4:42:38 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 12 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, and Biased Writer Voice, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 32.7% saturation with 149 hits. Analysis detected 650 faulty-reasoning hits from 455 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 36.2% and a BS Rank of ⁠22% (15,897 of 20,371 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 78.00% of the article peer group.

Saturday Night Live’s 51st season finale saw show legend and episode host Will Ferrell appearing as the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein to sing a duet with President Donald Trump. 
Trump, played by cast member James Austin Johnson, was woken up from a nap in the Oval Office by Ferrell, dressed as a Dickensian, Jacob Marley-like ghost who joked and reminisced with the president. 
“How’s heaven?” 
Austin’s Trump asked. 
“Really, really hot,” Ferrell said. 
“How are your approval ratings?” 
Johnson replied they are “in the 30s.” 
“Gross!” 
Ferrell’s Epstein said. 
“Call me when they’re 17.” 
Trump’s relationship with Epstein, which the president has consistently and strenuously denied, has been a major headache for the administration throughout Trump’s second term. 
The president has denied wrongdoing and has characterized efforts to release millions of documents in the Justice Department’s possession as a politically motivated “hoax” against him. 
Trump has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing, and one’s appearance in the Epstein files does not suggest otherwise. 
The president has acknowledged that he knew the disgraced financier and sex offender but maintained that their friendship ended long before Epstein pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor. 
“Man, we had some fun times together, didn't we Donny?” 
Ferrell said. 
“We should have taken more pictures.” 
“No, it's really bad that we took any,” Johnson replied. 
Ferrell then offered to show Johnson “visions of the future,” showing where administration officials end up in six months’ time. 
Now-former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, played by cast member Ashley Padilla, was seen selling Shark Wand vacuum cleaners on the Home Shopping Network, joking that it was “the best way to clean up that mess your dog made … besides a gun.” 
Defense Secretary Pete Heseth, played by cast member Colin Jost, then appeared pouring a “giant beer bong” for FBI director Kash Patel, played by comedian Anziz Ansari, on the Kashcast podcast, where the FBI director was selling a cologne made from sweat from his Senate hearings. 
Hegseth, meanwhile, is selling “Poland Sprung,” “the first-ever hard water.” 
Back in the Oval office, Ferrell told Johnson that “people will always associate you with me … my dear, close friend, that is a beautiful thing” — appearing to echo an alleged birthday letter sent by Trump to Epstein for his 50th birthday. 
The president has vehemently denied sending the letter to Epstein and sued The Wall Street Journal for publishing it. 
The pair closed the cold open sketch with a duet of “Just The Two of Us” by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr. after Ferrell’s Epstein showed him visions of the future of his administration. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 1.7%The Independent: 2.9%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.5%The Independent: 0.7%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 1.3%The Independent: 3.2%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 2.3%The Independent: 0.9%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.1%The Independent: 0.6%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 1.6%The Independent: 2.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 30.5%Mike Bedigan: 7.4%The Independent: 8.2%Framing Effect30.5%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.5%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.6%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 4.2%Mike Bedigan: 2.5%The Independent: 2.4%Optimism Bias4.2%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.3%The Independent: 1.6%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 32.7%Mike Bedigan: 8.8%The Independent: 12.1%Negativity Bias32.7%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 2.5%The Independent: 2.5%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 5.3%Mike Bedigan: 0.3%The Independent: 1.2%Fundamental Attribution Error5.3%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.1%The Independent: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 1.9%The Independent: 1.6%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 1.7%The Independent: 0.8%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 4.4%The Independent: 2.2%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.7%The Independent: 1.5%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 1.2%The Independent: 2.2%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.1%The Independent: 0.4%Straw Man0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 5.9%The Independent: 3.8%Appeal to Authority0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.4%The Independent: 1.5%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.3%The Independent: 0.7%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 3.5%The Independent: 4.2%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 9.5%Mike Bedigan: 0.3%The Independent: 0.4%Red Herring9.5%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.6%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 2.2%Mike Bedigan: 7.8%The Independent: 6.4%Appeal to Emotion2.2%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.1%The Independent: 0.9%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.9%The Independent: 2.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.2%The Independent: 0.3%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 4.2%Mike Bedigan: 0.1%The Independent: 0.7%Burden of Proof4.2%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.1%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 1.0%The Independent: 2.2%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 1.1%Mike Bedigan: 1.3%The Independent: 1.8%Ambiguity (Equivocation)1.1%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.0%The Independent: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 6.4%Mike Bedigan: 0.9%The Independent: 2.6%Unattributed Quote6.4%This article: 4.0%Mike Bedigan: 2.1%The Independent: 2.1%Quote-first Misdirection4.0%This article: 21.1%Mike Bedigan: 4.0%The Independent: 7.9%Biased Writer Voice21.1%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.2%The Independent: 1.3%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.6%The Independent: 2.0%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Mike Bedigan: 0.2%The Independent: 0.6%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 21.8%Mike Bedigan: 1.3%The Independent: 0.4%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…21.8%

455 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers6.6%attributed speech425writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 17 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 29 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 34 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 100.0% coverageJames Austin Johnson • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWill Ferrell • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverageJames Austin Johnson • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 100.0% coverageWill Ferrell • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 31 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageWill Ferrell • 2 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 100.0% coverageJames Austin Johnson • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 43 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 46 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 43 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 35 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

James Austin Johnson

0%flagged-word coverage
20 attributed words67% of attributed speech72% writer coverage
0%12.5%25.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -23.3 ptsWriter: 23.3%James Austin Johnson: 0.0%0.0%Biased Writer Voice-22.6 ptsWriter: 22.6%James Austin Johnson: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-6.8 ptsWriter: 6.8%James Austin Johnson: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-4.2 ptsWriter: 4.2%James Austin Johnson: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.