It has now been a full month since Joe Biden became president, yet late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live has still not aired a single skit about him or his administration.
SNL, known for decades as a show that skewers America’s highest elected officials, noticeably ignored Biden’s inauguration in the episode written and performed the same week. In the three weeks since that puzzling omission, “Joe Biden” has not appeared as a character on the show — only receiving a few mentions on its “Weekend Update” news segment.
This weekend, SNL skewered Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in its opening skit (pictured) and a “Weekend Update” segment but, in contrast, made no mention of President Biden’s town hall with CNN, where he delivered gaffes, falsehoods, and downright cringey lines, such as:
-He would not bail out certain levels of student loan debt (his press team backtracked on that line within 24 hours)
-His administration didn’t have “the vaccine” when he came into office (he received it before his inauguration)
-Black Americans and other minorities don’t know how to use the Internet
-He has traveled 17,000 miles with Chinese President Xi Jinping (a false statement)
-Xi’s concentration camps for Uyghur Muslims can be chalked up to different “cultural norms” and are keeping China “unified”
-“Everybody knows I like kids better than people.”
While ignoring Biden completely, the show penned a joke a “Weekend Update” accusing Israel of denying coronavirus vaccines to non-Jews. Performer Michael Che has come under fire for spreading the “antisemitic” falsehood.
Before the new year, SNL leaned on guest stars to portray Biden and his then-VP candidate, Kamala Harris. Actor and political cartoonist Jim Carrey took on the former role, and SNL alumnus Maya Rudolph took on the latter. In the show’s last episode before Christmas, series regular Alex Moffat took over for Carrey.
Comedian Adam Corolla recently explained why the comedy show that spent dozens of hours attacking Donald Trump has completely ignored Biden: they’re “scared.”
“Honestly, I get what there is to hate about Donald Trump,” Carolla recently said on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom. “What is there to love about Joe Biden? That’s the bigger question if you’re SNL. OK, you hated Trump, fine. Why do you love Joe Biden? There’s nothing to love about Joe Biden, unless you’re scared of being cancelled, and the fact that this cancel culture has drifted over to comedy is absolutely insane.”
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