By now you’ve probably seen countless articles, memes, and Facebook rants about the first presidential debate, which took place Monday, September 26th at Hofstra University. With only 36 days to go, election season is in full swing.
This also means that it’s time for my favorite part of every presidential election: the “Saturday Night Live” election coverage. Season 42 of “SNL” kicked off with its own presidential debate, featuring Emmy award winning cast member Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton and actor Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump.
Perhaps the scariest part of this sketch was that it was not very far off from the actual debate. In past years, “SNL” debate depictions are extremely over exaggerated. This year, the real candidates seem like caricatures and the jokes practically write themselves.
When asked about the economy, Baldwin as Trump said, “I’ve got a very presidential answer for this: Our jobs are fleeing this country. They’re going to Mexico. They’re going to Jina. I will stop that. If Hillary knew how, she would have done it already. Period. End of story. I won the debate. Stayed calm, just like I promised, and it is over. Good night, Hofstra.”
After being informed that there were still 88 remaining minutes of the debate, Trump announced, “My microphone is broken. She broke it, with Obama. She and Obama stole my microphone, took it to Kenya…and now it’s broken.” When asked for her response, Clinton declared she thought she had won the election.
Another sketch featured Team Clinton and Team Trump on Family Feud. Clinton’s team included actors playing Bill Clinton, Sarah Silverman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Bernie Sanders. Meanwhile, Trump’s team consisted of campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, Ivanka Trump, Chris Christie, and Vladimir Putin.
“Senator Clinton is the prune juice of this election,” Larry David as Bernie Sanders said. “She might not seem that appetizing but if you don’t take her now you’re going to be clogged with crap for a very long time.”
The season premiere lived up to expectations and Baldwin’s highly anticipated debut as Trump was spot on. Regardless of your political views, “SNL” has been satirizing elections since 1976 and won’t disappoint.