Rob Lowe's criticism of Saturday Night Live's Donald Trump sketches wasn't that James Austin Johnson couldn't do the voice. It was that Lowe preferred the stranger, less predictable material he had seen Johnson perform before joining the show.
The actor discussed the difference with former SNL cast member Jay Pharoah on his Literally! podcast in 2024. Their conversation was about what happens when an impression built around a performer's instincts meets a scripted television sketch.
The version Lowe preferred
Lowe recalled discovering Johnson's clips during the pandemic. In those videos, Johnson could let a Trump-like stream of thought wander into subjects that had little to do with a political speech.
That was the part Lowe wanted more of on SNL: the digressions and unexpected turns. His criticism was directed at the material around the impression, rather than a claim that Johnson lacked the ability to impersonate Trump.
An accurate voice and a funny scene aren't quite the same achievement. A performer can sound immediately recognizable while the joke itself remains unsurprising. Lowe's preference was for an impression that exaggerated the character's way of thinking, not only the subject of the week's news.
Pharoah knew the problem from inside the show
Pharoah, known for his Barack Obama impression during his time on SNL, joined the discussion about written material and improvisation. He suggested that a performer can sometimes come up with something stronger in the moment than a prepared line.
That doesn't establish why any particular SNL sketch turned out as it did. Neither guest's preference amounts to a production account from Johnson or the writers responsible. It does explain why they were talking about creative freedom as much as impersonation.
Lowe also pointed to Dana Carvey's George H.W. Bush as an example of comedy built around a recognizable set of sounds and habits. The appeal was in the comic character, rather than a precise recreation of a policy statement.
The conversation belonged to the 2024 election season
SNL's fiftieth season opened in September 2024 with a large cast of political impressions. Maya Rudolph played Kamala Harris, Carvey appeared as Joe Biden and Andy Samberg played Doug Emhoff. Those appearances gave the podcast discussion its immediate setting.
Lowe and Pharoah were discussing a show both knew well, with Pharoah drawing on experience playing Obama rather than Johnson's Trump role. Their examples crossed several eras of SNL, from Carvey's Bush to the political cast assembled for the 2024 campaign.
For viewers, the useful disagreement is easy to recognize. Do you want the impression to repeat the news in a familiar voice, or take that voice somewhere you weren't expecting? Lowe wanted more of the second approach.
