SNL spoofs Pence-Harris VP debate in cold open

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NBC’s Saturday Night Live tackled last week’s vice president debate in its cold opening Saturday.

In the second episode of the sketch comedy show’s newest season, SNL poked fun at Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris, who faced off in the one and only debate between the two vice-presidential candidates. While Vice President Joe Biden, with whom Harris is running alongside for the White House, did not participate in the debate, the Democratic nominee was not immune from being a target.

Pence is portrayed by cast member Beck Bennett, who humorously played the VP as a deadpan conservative, while SNL alum Maya Rudolph revived her portrayal of Harris, a role she won an Emmy for this September for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, as previously reported by theGrio.

READ MORE: Jim Carrey, Maya Rudolph preview their Biden-Harris characters in SNL promo

The sketch also includes two-time Emmy winning cast member Kate McKinnon playing moderator Susan Page of USA Today. McKinnon plays Page as a drowsy, bemused moderator who doesn’t hide her contempt for President Donald Trump. When asking Pence about Trump’s health condition after contracting COVID-19, she said “Oh, I wasn’t asking out of sympathy, Mike. I was asking with a simmering rage for his incompetence and a sadistic hope that he is not well.”

Rudolph, who starred on SNL as a regular cast member from 2000 – 2007, made light of Harris’ reaction to Pence interrupting her during Tuesday’s debate. When she said “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” the audience reacted with thunderous applause.

The sketch concentrated particularly on the fly that landed on Pence’s hair during the Wednesday debate. The fly, which became a viral sensation, was personified as Biden, played by comedian/actor Jim Carrey for the second straight week, attempting to teleport to the debate to assist Harris. During his teleportation, Biden evolved into a fly, parodying the 1986 Jeff Goldblum thriller The Fly.

READ MORE: Jamaicans in Florida energized by Harris on 2020 ticket

A second fly appeared in the sketch, this one personified by the late Herman Cain, portrayed by cast member Kenan Thompson. Cain passed away of COVID-19 in July after attending a Trump rally in Oklahoma.

Thompson stated that Cain had died and been reincarnated as a fly.

It’s the second week in a row that SNL’s cold open parodied a political debate. Last week, actor Alec Baldwin reprised his reoccurring role as Trump during a debate with Carrey as Biden.

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