"SNL" Tackles Coronavirus With White House Press Conference Parody

With the coronavirus outbreak dominating the news cycle this week, Saturday Night Live tackled the epidemic in the cold open of this Saturday’s episode.

Beck Bennett anchors the sketch as Mike Pence, who “most of you know from the sentence, ‘Even if Trump was removed, we’d still be stuck with Mike Pence.'” Bennett parodies the White House press conference where Pence was announced to lead efforts against the coronavirus. Things quickly go awry when the Democratic primary candidates begin showing up, starting with Fred Armisen’s Mike Bloomberg.  

Host John Mulaney plays Joe Biden, replacing the usual Jason Sudeikis/Woody Harrelson. Biden flaunts a South Carolina sash having secured the most delegates from the state’s primary earlier that day. “Guess who just kicked butt in south Cracker Barrel,” he remarks.

Larry David, who is in the midst of a fantastic season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, returned as Bernie Sanders. He expresses his frustration about Purell killing 99% of germs and not the final 1%.

David Byrne, of the Talking Heads, locked down the musical guest spot for the episode and performed the legendary “Once in a Lifetime” off of the group’s 1980 record Remain in Light.

Check out a full breakdown of the episode on Entertainment Weekly.