SNL's Playful Take on the VP Debate

The Oct. 5 episode of "Saturday Night Live" kicked off with a light-hearted jab at this week’s vice presidential debate. The sketch starts with Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph) and her husband Doug Emhoff (Andy Samberg) watching the debate from their home. Norah O’Donnell (Heidi Gardner) and Margaret Brennan (Chloe Fineman) are moderating, while Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan) and JD Vance (Bowen Yang) take gentle shots at each other during the debate. Vance begins his opening statement with a comment aimed at women voters: “I want to start by saying something that will appeal to women voters. I see both moderators are mothers, and I appreciate that.” Meanwhile, Walz brings up his past as a teacher, stating, “I gotta grade these papers… I’ve got a stack of midterms.” Later, he makes a gaffe: “I’ve become friends with school shooters.”

The sketch then mocks the candidates' tendency to agree with each other. Walz says, “This guy is good — he has an answer for everything,” and they share a touching moment by reaching out to touch each other between their podiums. Vance wraps up the segment by complaining about being fact-checked on Donald Trump’s peaceful transfer of power: “He peacefully gave over power… Willingly got on his plane without incident... Don’t check that.” Just then, Joe Biden (Dana Carvey) crashes Harris and Emhoff’s watch party with his signature ice cream cone, folksy wisdom, and general confusion.

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