Saturday Night Live‘s cold opens have been mostly political in recent years, and another hearing held by the January 6 Committee this week certainly merited coverage by the NBC sketch comedy show. Saturday’s Megan Thee Stallion-hosted episode began with a slew of cast members loosely recreating the latest political theater that included dramatic new footage of Nancy Pelosi organizing security (and talking a bit dirty) during the insurrection attempt at the US Capitol. Though the show couldn’t help but point out how dull it could be at times.
As Kenan Thompson’s chairman Bennie Thompson put it, “we assembled a team of monotone nerds to make a PowerPoint.”
The sketch culminates in the committee voting for Donald Trump to testify in front of the January 6 Committee, which everyone assured the audience at home would absolutely, for sure, happen. But it did also feature Liz Cheney, played by Heidi Garner, admitting she may be the only person to actually see consequences for speaking out against Trump as a Republican. Describing the “big Dick Cheney energy” required to do just that, Cheney cited a pretty obvious reason why she’s a bit different than other Republicans.
“You might be wondering what makes me so tough,” Gardner said. “And I ask you, ‘Was your dad? Is it Dick Cheney?’ You might wonder, ‘How do you have the guts to take on your entire party alone?’ And I’d say, ‘When you were little, who tucked you in at night? Was it Dick Cheney?’”
Adam Schiff was described as “too spooky” to be given any air time during the sketch, but a number of politicians that have appeared throughout the proceedings got a bit of shine during the open. Chloe Fineman recreated the now-famous Nancy Pelosi video from the hearings earlier in the week, while Sarah Sherman played Chuck Schumer calling Door Dash about their lunch.
“Is Mike Pence dead yet?” Trump asks at one point during a supposed recreation of Trump’s thoughts about the whole ordeal. So maybe it wasn’t completely true to the events of January 6. Then again, we might still get that testimony from the former president after all.
You can watch the full sketch above.
