The writers on Saturday Night Live have plenty of material to work with these days for the show's "political coverage." Hot off the heels of Brooklyn's #demdebate and with New York City's presidential primary just two days away, this weekend was certainly no exception.
On this week's show, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton again took the debate stage for a slightly more hilarious version of the event that took place in Brooklyn, for real, last Thursday.
"I've won a million debates, when people hear my message it resonates loud and clear because I always talk like I'm on the other side of a river," said Bernie, played by none other than Larry David. (Of course, the same could be said about the comedian and Seinfeld creator.)
"I cannot wait to be your next president, if I'm elected, of course," said Clinton, played by Kate McKinnon. "I'm not getting ahead of myself in public. In private, I've been president for 15 years."
"Wolf Blitzer," who claimed to have shaved his beard five minutes prior, questioned the candidates on hot-button issues, such as raising the minimum wage. "I have said from the beginning that it should be a combination of 12 and/or 15," says Clinton.
"Errol Lewis," the "black issues" moderator, stepped in to ask the "The Black Question." "I have two black people in my phone: Barack Obama and my husband, Bill Clinton," Hillary tells the audience.
Sanders notes that he's supported the black community since the 60s and marched in Selma with Martin Luther King, Jr. "Did I run when they turned on the hoses? Yes. I didn't sign up for getting wet."
Next it was time to take questions from "real New Yorkers," in this case Elaine Benes from Seinfeld, reprised by host Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Her first question was for Sanders: "So listen, you've been pretty vague in the past, but how exactly are you going to break up the big banks?"
"Once I'm elected president, I'll have a nice schvitz in the White House gym, then I'll go to the big banks, I'll sit them down and yadda, yadda, yadda, they'll be broken up."
"You can't yadda, yadda at a debate," Elaine told Sanders, poking fun at the vague answers the real-life candidate is criticized for offering when put on public stage. "Also you yadda, yaddaed over the best part."
"No, I mentioned the schvitz," says Sanders.
"Rachel Green" from Friends couldn't quite get it together to ask her question, and the candidates declined to take one from Cliff Huxtable, an ob/gyn in Brooklyn and father of six. "I need black voters, but not that bad," says Sanders.
The sketch ends with Elaine questioning Sanders on his proposed policy for taxing the rich. "Wouldn't that be bad for actors who made a lot of money on a certain very successful sitcom?"
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jessica Firger is a staff writer at Newsweek, where she covers all things health. She previously worked as a health editor ... Read more
