Saturday Night Live’s Cold Open used Herschel Walker’s own slip-ups and bizarre words against him to skewer his Senate bid while Republican Senate nominee takes on Democrat Raphael Warnock in Georgia.
In real life, Walker’s post-election-day runoff was marked by his comments about vampires and werewolves, as well as a blip that was a bit Freudian given the accusations and revelations that have surfaced since the soccer star entered the political arena.
In the skit, Walker (Kenan Thompson) visits the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (James Austin Johnson) as he and other colleagues look forward to each victory after Republican hopes of regaining the majority were dashed in the most recent one intermediate exams. But the veteran politicians have to contend with a candidate, Walker, who appears to be testing how much voters will accept when it comes to lack of qualifications. In the skit, Walker first refers to McConnell as “Mitch McDonalds.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Cecily Strong) tells Walker, “The priority now is to get the voting done because this big runoff is coming up.”
Walker replies, “Oh, well, I’m good at that. My ex-wife said all I do is run away.”
At one point, Walker tells McConnell & Co., “I’m very confident about this erection.”
“You mean choice?” McConnell asks him.
“I don’t,” Walker replies.
Walker really had that blunder in the campaign. And later in the skit, the SNL writers targeted Walker’s reference to vampires and werewolves in a campaign speech, something Warnock’s campaign used in campaign ads.
“Maybe we should back off on the final push and focus on the message,” Blackburn tells Walker.
“Exactly. Just like Kanye,” Walker replies.
“No. No. The issues that people care about — inflation, crime,” says Blackburn.
“Vampires, werewolves. They are afraid of the geico gecko. We’re going to look at it all,” Walker tells her.
As Walker continues, McConnell finally arrives with his Ave Mary pass – a “Plan B”. That’s supposed to get Walker into his “panic room.” “It’s all yours, just until Election Day. … Everything is there that you need.”
“It’s only for a few days,” McConnell tells him before the skit ends rather abruptly.
Thompson appeared as Walker and Johnson as McConnell during a weekend update segment earlier this season. This time, to use some of Walker’s own words, the skit had some shades of the pre-2008 SNL election kit starring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Using some of Palin’s genuine comments from a disastrous CBS News interview with Katie Couric, this skit reinforces concerns that the GOP vice presidential nominee wasn’t qualified for the job.
Check out the sketch above.