A clip of an old Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris that makes fun of Biden's cognitive ability has resurfaced online, with some people saying it has stood the test of time.
On Sunday, Biden announced that he would not be seeking reelection in the 2024 presidential race after weeks of pressure from within his party and from key Democratic donors to step down amid concerns over his age and mental acuity. On the same day, he threw his support behind Harris. Since the announcement, she has secured enough delegates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee, meaning she will likely be former President Donald Trump's opponent in November's election.
Now conservative commenters are sharing the SNL sketch on X, formerly Twitter, highlighting the fact the sketch seemed to allude to Biden's cognitive decline.
Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Harris and Biden for comment on Friday.
Maya Rudolph returned to the role of Harris during the March 27 episode of the hit sketch show back in 2021, which she also hosted.
At the beginning of the sketch, Rudolph as Harris addressed the end of the pandemic amid Passover. She then extended an invitation to the audience to join her and her husband Doug Emhoff (played by Martin Short) for a unifying Passover Seder, a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday. Various people joined them during the sketch, including Biden, played by comedian Alex Moffat.
Upon his arrival, the president claimed that a recent press conference was "so easy," but referred to his notecards to read that he had "proved them all wrong."
Matt Wolking—who was part of Donald Trump's 2020 campaign and is now VP, communications, for Axiom Strategies, a GOP political, public affairs and public relations firm—posted a snippet of the episode to X.
"SNL skit from March 2021, two months into the Biden-Harris Administration, mocks Biden's cognitive function and his decision to put Kamala Harris 'in charge of solving a little immigration problem down at the Mexican border,'" he wrote in the caption.
At the time of writing, his post had been viewed 887,000 times.
One X user commented on the post: "This sketch aged like a fine wine."
However, another user pointed out that SNL sketches are often exaggerations of those they depict, writing: "SNL does more to exaggerate and manipulate public perception than accurately reflect the true nature of political figures and events. For example, Sarah Palin never claimed to be able to see Russia from her house, and Gerald Ford wasn't particularly clumsy and even quite athletic."
Benny Johnson, a conservative political commentator and YouTuber, reshared Wolking's post and added: "SNL in 2021:
- Joe Biden is mentally handicapped
- Kamala is The Border Czar
"Back when you could still say these things. Libs don't want you to see this."
At the time of writing, his post had been viewed 5 million times.
Biden struggled during a debate against Trump on June 27, appearing to lose his chain of thought at several points, raising fresh concerns about the 81-year-old's health and mental aptitude.
His debate performance triggered a "very aggressive panic" within the Democratic Party according to CNN's chief national correspondent John King, and sparked intense speculation over whether he could be removed as its presumptive presidential nominee.
In early July, House Republicans issued subpoenas to three White House aides, accusing them of "running interference" for Biden and "doing the president's job for him amid his declining cognitive state."
While Rudolph appeared on SNL from 2000 to 2007, she debuted her Harris character during the 2020 election cycle in SNL's impeachment town hall sketch, introducing herself as "America's cool aunt. A fun aunt. I call that a 'Funt.'"
She has returned to the character various times since then, including in December 2019 as part of the PBS Democratic Debate cold open just after Harris herself had dropped out of the race. Rudolph won an Emmy for her performance.
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