Actor Jason Sudeikis returned to Saturday Night Live this weekend to reprise the role of Joe Biden, offering up his interpretation of what it would be like if the former vice president attended sensitivity training the wake of recent reports that he invaded the personal space of women at political events.
"I'm a hugger, I'm a kisser and a little bit of a sniffer," Sudeikis' Biden says. "But the last thing I want to do is offend anyone."
The skit revolved around Biden attending a workshop with a political consultant, played by Kate McKinnon, and two of Biden's concerned staffers, played by Cecily Strong and Kenan Thompson. For the most part, the piece zeroed in on a seemingly oblivious Biden repeatedly encroaching on generally understood social boundaries with women, even when it was clear it made them uncomfortable.
"Ideally when you meet a female stranger for the first time there would be no hugs or kisses of any kind," McKinnon stresses in response to SNL's Biden, who insists on placing his head on her forehead.
"That's a human connection," Sudeikis says in character. "That's my whole thing."
When told it was inappropriate to tickle women while giving them handshakes, SNL's Biden asks: "What if I see someone's that's having a bad day—bear with me here—and I cheer her up by lifting up her shirt and blowing zerberts on her tummy...Let me see what else I got. Am I still allowed to do that gorgeous lift at the end of Dirty Dancing?
"Who would you do that with?" McKinnon retorts.
"Hell, I don't know, whoever is strong enough to lift me up, I guess. A coal miner? A linebacker ?" Sudeikis says, prompting arguably the largest laugh from the audience during the nearly 7-minute skit.
The real Biden, who has yet to officially launch his expected run for the Democratic ticket, spent the last week mired in controversy stemming from an essay penned by Lucy Flores, a former Nevada assembly member.
"Very unexpectedly and out of nowhere, I feel Joe Biden put his hands on my shoulders, get up very close to me from behind, lean in, smell my hair and then plant a slow kiss on the top of my head," Flores wrote, referring to a 2014 incident.
In multiple statements, Biden said he regretted making Flores feel uncomfortable but stopped short of directly apologizing for the touching.
"I'm sorry I didn't understand more," Biden said Friday. "I'm not sorry for any of my intentions. I'm not sorry for anything that I have ever done. I have never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman. So that's not the reputation I've had since I was in high school, for God's sake."
Watch the skit above.
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