Saturday Night Live took on both coronavirus and the Democratic presidential candidates in its cold open, with show host John Mulaney taking up the role of Joe Biden on Saturday. The sketch started as a press conference the White House was holding with vice president Mike Pence, who earlier in the week was officially given the task of overseeing the effort to combat the spread of the virus in the United States.
That included some jokes from Pence and Keenan Thompson’s Ben Carson, who pitched “Make America Great Again” face masks.
It may take a couple of months for delivery because they are made in Wuhan, China,” Thompson said.
The sketch quickly devolved into an opportunity for Democratic presidential candidates to get some air time, though. Mike Bloomberg asked a question from press row, which was basically just about his campaign. Then Elizabeth Warren crashed the press conference to bully the billionaire for a bit.
“It’s my job now I make your life a living hell,” Warren (Kate McKinnon) said. “I may be fifth in the polls but I’m No. 1 in your nightmares.”
Joe Biden also appeared, this time with Mulaney making note of the many people who have played Biden this presidential run, including fellow host Woody Harrelson and former SNL castmember Jason Sudeikis.
The surgery is starting to settle,” Mulaney joked.
Larry David’s Bernie Sanders was back too (“I’m having the best week of my friggin’ life”) and Colin Jost’s Pete Buttigieg was there, also a candidate (“for the next three days”), though he was quickly shown up by Rachel Dratch’s Amy Klobuchar. The show had a much more thorough look at coronavirus and the week that was on Weekend Update, which you can watch below.
