On last night’s broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” on NBC, Jason Sudeikis as Vice President Joe Biden and Taran Killam as Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took on last week’s vice presidential debate for the show’s open.
With Kate McKinnon playing debate moderator Martha Raddatz, Sudeikis’ Biden portrayed the vice president’s aggressive demeanor and frequent interruptions during the debate.
“I’m from Janesville, Wisconsin, and he’s from Scranton, Pennsylvania,” Ryan says in the skit. “Do you know what the unemployment rate is in Scranton right now? It’s 10 percent. And I just wonder what the vice president would say to hardworking people of towns like Janesville and Scranton.”
“I guarantee you, [Janesville] is a paradise next to the burning coal heap that is Scranton, Pennsylvania,” Sudeikis’ Biden retorts. “Do you know that show, ‘The Walking Dead?’ It’d make a good tourism ad for Scranton. If you went to the lowest circle of hell, you’d still be 45 minutes outside of Scranton. I grew up there. I love it. It’s the single worst place on earth.”
Killam’s Ryan, meanwhile, mocked the GOP nominee’s reputation as a fitness freak, as well as his facial expressions during the nationally televised debate, which Biden calls “shark eyes” and Raddatz calls “upsetting” in the skit.
Raddatz, who challenged the real candidates last week with probing questions about everything from foreign policy to their religion and abortion, also didn’t escape some light jabs from the ‘SNL’ team.
“Moving on, the baseball playoffs are in full swing, with four teams remaining,” McKinnon’s Raddatz says. “So, if you can, could you please speak personally about abortion?”
“I accept the teachings of the Catholic Church,” Sudeikis’ Biden responds. “But then, like most Catholics, I ignore them and do what I want.” (RELATED: US Conference of Bishops criticizes Biden’s remarks on abortion during vice presidential debate.)
Earlier in the skit, in an awkward moment that drew only scattered laughs, Raddatz sternly tells the candidates: “Do I sound like Jim Lehrer? And do I look like Jim Lehrer? Then don’t try and fuck me like I’m Jim Lehrer.”
The skit featured a guest appearance by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, playing Ryan’s running partner.