Saturday Night Live fans are up in arms over a sketch they say was intended to save face for Kamala Harris.
In the sketch, the newly licensed Alec Baldwin took on the role of Fox News’ Bret Baier in what amounted to a surprise guest appearance. Opposite him was veteran cast member Maya Rudolph, who replaced the vice president.
A later exchange appeared to mock the news anchor’s handling of the interview, which many have criticized as rude.
The cold opening, in turn, contained several instances of Baldwin’s Baier interrupting Rudolph, painting the personality’s line of questioning as combative.
However, many online viewers remained unconvinced, claiming the display was a lame attempt to gain a more favorable judgment in the court of public opinion.
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Saturday Night Live fans are up in arms over sketch they say was intended to save face for Kamala Harris
Baldwin and Rudolph were parodying the vice president’s Fox News interview that aired earlier this week (pictured).
“Well, Kamala is collapsing in the polls, so desperate @nbcsnl pulled out their big ‘weapons,'” one such user wrote on X.
‘Yes, that was @AlecBaldwin playing the Fox News journalist! Too soon?’ They then asked, referencing the regular host’s recently resolved manslaughter case.
‘Nice “shot” SNL, but @realDonaldTrump is still headed for a landslide victory!’
Others were equally skeptical about SNL’s true intentions with the scene, as the impending election is only 15 days away.
“It’s getting nasty,” one viewer criticized. ‘Kamala is still (F)ox and she looks horrible.
“The left-wing press makes the press say that she really did amazing… when that failed, as expected, they launched SNL to publish a fictional version of events that dumb people will believe thanks to the laughs and the actors “.
Saturday Night Live fans were up in arms over the Sunday morning sketch, framing it as an attempt to present Harris in a better light.
Some focused on Harris’ own mistakes at Fox News, which Baldwin and Rudolph seemed to ignore as they cast Baier as the guilty party.
One person simply called the parody “pathetic,” saying the real comedy came from “Kamala’s” horrible performance.
“How could I not answer any question without ranting about Trump,” that netizen proclaimed.
“And how his people threw in the towel to end the interview.”
Another person comically claimed that Rudolph seemed “better #KamalaHarris than Kamala Harris,” citing how the comedian “remembers her lines, doesn’t laugh, and is more eloquent, smarter, funnier, and…healthier.”
“Kamala looks angry, tired and has a bad case of #TDS” in comparison, the person said, using an acronym popularized by MAGA members that refers to “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Others, meanwhile, criticized the show for bringing back Baldwin, a 17-time host whose name just weeks ago was cleared in the involuntary manslaughter case involving late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The cold open contained several instances of Baldwin’s Baier interrupting Rudolph, in an apparent attempt to paint the personality’s line of questioning toward Harris (seen here during the interview) as combative. He is currently lagging behind in some polls.
New Mexico prosecutors had attempted to prove that the actor’s behavior on the tragic set contributed to the “safety compromises” that led to the incident, but failed after errors in the handling of evidence led a judge to dismiss the case without prejudice.
This meant that Baldwin, who broke down in tears after hearing the sentence last July, cannot be charged again, despite being the one who fired the fatal shot.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, the gunsmith on the set of Rust, was found guilty of manslaughter earlier this year and jailed for 18 months, a sentence Baldwin would also have faced if convicted.
The issue had disrupted the trial for months after Baldwin pleaded not guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter, in response to allegations of negligence on the set of the October 2021 incident.
His return received additional attention due to him being SNL’s most prolific host, having played the role 17 times and delivering his famous introductory line some 45 times.
That said, the actor has only appeared sparingly since 2017, and this spot is only his second in that span.
Last November, he made another surprise appearance about two years after the on-set shooting, still mired in multiple legal proceedings.
Others, meanwhile, criticized the show for bringing back Baldwin, a 17-time host whose name just weeks ago was cleared in an involuntary manslaughter case.
The case surrounded the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died after being hit by a bullet from a prop gun fired by Baldwin on the set of Rust in October 2021.
In an apparent ode to these disputes, Baldwin appeared at the end of a sketch about sleep stories for the app Calm to proclaim: ‘Okay, everyone, let’s calm down!’
On Saturday, the 30 Rock actor was the first face to appear on fans’ screens as the show began, and he appeared in high spirits despite the elephant in the room seemingly being recognized by the audience with an audible scream. of surprise.
Like Bair, he proceeded to embark on a crude interrogation of Rudolph’s version of the vice president, echoing some recent criticisms of the interview.
The sketch also poked fun at a moment that Baier would later admit was a mistake: when he cut to the wrong clip of a Donald Trump quote.
This allowed ‘SNL’ to incorporate several mini-parodies such as Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden and, finally, Donald Trump, before returning to Baldwin and Rudolph.
The couple went to present the episode with the famous slogan ‘Live from New York’, after which Baldwin did not appear again
Just like last year, did not address the recently concluded litigation, having come under fire in the past for his recent exaggerated portrayals of Trump.
Baldwin initially claimed he did not pull the trigger of the gun that caused his employee’s death. The case was dismissed due to mishandling of evidence.
He chose to give up the character for this outing, and the role was played by James Austin Johnson, who sought to poke fun at the former president’s recent town hall that turned into an impromptu music festival on Monday when two attendees fell ill.
“Let’s not ask any more questions,” Trump said at the post-medical event, apparently out of respect.
Instead, he said, “Let’s listen to music.” paving the way for hits like “YMCA” and “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” which played for about half an hour.
“You can dance all you want to YMCA or any other song that you don’t know is a gay anthem,” Rudolph joked, in turn, as Harris in the now widely seen sketch.
“This election is about contrast,” he continued, without drawing attention to the candidate’s now characteristic stumbles and word salads.
‘At my rallies, there are Beyoncé, joy and bathrooms. At his rallies, he doesn’t pay for buses and hundreds of elderly people have to walk six miles to their car through the desert.’
The latest jab appeared to reference post-event reports in Pennsylvania that Trump supporters were left stranded in sweltering conditions after a rally in Coachella, California.
“There used to be like 20 buses when they brought us here, but now there’s only three,” protest participant Wesley Johnson said in a video shared on social media at the time.
‘It’s chaos, absolute chaos. “All of us are stranded here.”
Trump supporters waited for hours as darkness descended on the area, and many, including elderly attendees, struggled as concerns grew about a lack of transportation.
It’s unclear exactly what happened to the buses, but the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said deputies assisted attendees by providing transportation in their vehicles.
They then referred questions about transportation issues to Trump campaign organizers.
The Trump campaign has not addressed the cause of the delays, which were resolved after a “two-hour walk” through the desert to return to a parking lot, aides said.
Meanwhile, Harris is falling behind Trump in some swing-state polls. There are 15 days left until election day.