‘SNL’ returns with a new Joe Biden, looking to unite Democrats
By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business
“Saturday Night Live” is back, and with it came a new President Joe Biden.
The NBC variety show returned for its season premiere Saturday and opened its 47th season with new cast member James Austin Johnson taking on the role of Biden.
“What’s cookin’, what’s good?” Johnson’s Biden said, kicking off the premiere. “How was everybody’s summer? Mine was bad.”
Johnson’s Biden added that on the bright side, he “went the entire summer without falling down the stairs once.”
Johnson’s Biden then brought out a bunch of fellow Democrats from different ends of the political spectrum. That included Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, played by Cecily Strong, and Sen. Joe Manchin, played by Aidy Bryant, as well as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, played by Melissa Villaseñor, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, played by Ego Nwodim.
“Is it just me or does she look like all of the characters from ‘Scooby-Doo’ at the same time?” Johnson’s Biden said of Strong’s Sinema.
After thanking Biden for not “calling me Kamala,” Nwodim’s Omar said she was “designed in a lab to give Tucker Carlson a heart attack.”
Johnson’s Biden was trying to unite the two sides in hopes of getting infrastructure bill finished. It wasn’t working.
“I’m saying we need at least $300 billion in clean energy tax credits,” Villaseñor’s Ocasio-Cortez, said.
“And I’m saying $0,” Bryant’s Manchin responded.
“See? Same page!” Johnson’s Biden said.
Johnson’s Biden kept trying to find common ground. He asked if everyone likes roads, for example. Strong’s Sinema said she wants no roads.
“No roads?” Johnson’s Biden asked. “Why?”
“Chaos,” she responded.
The group was then joined by other Democrats like former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, played by Pete Davidson, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, played by Alex Moffat. Both were there to promote books. The name of Schumer’s book was “Sandwiches I Have Liked and Tried” while Cuomo’s book was titled “Whoops.”
Johnson’s Biden said that fundamentally, Democrats, despite their differences, are all the same.
Davidson’s Cuomo then interjected, “screwed!”
Then the entire cast kicked off the latest season with the traditional sign on, “Live from New York … It’s Saturday night!”
The-CNN-Wire
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