The “Saturday Night Live” cold open this weekend mocked both parties’ vice-presidential nominees and took aim at their friendly rapport on the debate stage Tuesday night.
The scene focused on Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s living room, where the Democratic presidential nominee, played by Maya Rudolph, and her husband, played by Andy Samberg, watched the debate on what Samberg’s Emhoff called the vice president’s first night off in three months.
The start of the debate in the cold open featured opening statements from Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), former President Trump’s running mate played by Bowen Yang, and from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee played by Jim Gaffigan.
Yang, as Vance, said he wanted to “begin with something that will appeal to women voters,” noting that CBS News debate moderators – Norah O’Donnell, played by Heidi Gardner, and Margaret Brennan, played by Chloe Fineman – “are mothers, and I like that.”
Gaffigan’s Walz character was seen scribbling something down before his opening statement. Asked whether he was preparing his answers, the Walz character told the moderators, “I got to grade these papers. Got a stack of midterms.”
The cold open debate also depicted two characters largely avoiding answering questions directly.
Asked how he’d solve the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, Yang’s Vance character said, “You know, that is such an important question, Margaret, one that deserves an answer, because it’s important, and it’s a question that you asked, of me, tonight.”
On the same question, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee responded, “I don’t know the answer, so I’m going to just say the word, ‘fundamental’ a bunch, because debating is 30 percent fun and 70 percent da-mental. How am I doing?”
As the debate progressed, the cold open turned back to Harris’s living room, as the character appeared on edge as the VP nominees faced off. Following the first debate question, Rudolph’s Harris poured herself another glass of wine and said, “I kind of wish I had picked Josh right now.”
“Oh, Josh Shapiro?” Samberg’s Emhoff followed up.
“No, Josh cabernet,” Rudolph, as Harris, replied, gesturing to a bottle of the wine.
Samberg’s Emhoff reassured the VP that Walz “will be fine” and said, “It’s not like he’s going to say something crazy.”
The cold open turned back to the debate, where Gaffigan’s character said, “I’ve become friends with school shooters.”
In her living room, Rudolph’s Harris broke her glass of wine with her hand as she watched that remark.
The debate moderators turned to the “gotcha portion of the debate,” in which the two VP nominees appeared amicable with each other.
When Yang’s Vance was asked whether he regrets calling Trump “America’s Hitler,” the candidate replied, “The context matters. I meant that as a compliment.”
Gaffigan’s Walz jumped in and said, “Wow, this guy’s good. He’s got an answer for everything.”
“Thank you. That’s quite kind,” Yang’s Vance replied.
“Hey, you’re welcome,” Gaffigan’s Walz said.
The moderator jumped in saying she was “not sure why you two are connecting,” but moved on to asking the Walz character, why, according to the sketch, he claimed he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre “when you were home in Minnesota.”
“So I think what happened is, I went to Epcot. You can go around the whole world, and I had a couple in the Germany section, and I thought I went to China. Anyway, I’m a knucklehead,” Walz’s character said. “But I’m sure this guy has some, some things he’d want to, you know, back out of, as well.”
“He’s right about that,” Yang’s Vance said, before the two men said, in unison, “That’s an area where we have a lot of common ground.”
Back in the Harris-Emhoff living room, the VP character seemed to take issue at the debaters’ apparent rapport.
“Why are they friends? Why are they vibing?” Rudolph’s Harris said.
The end of the cold open debate took aim at Vance’s character for reminding the moderators that they agreed not to fact-check the candidates directly.
Asked a question about whether he would certify the election results, Yang’s Vance said, “It’s rich to say that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy when he peacefully gave over power — we said no fact-checking — and willingly — don’t check that — got on his plane, without incident — don’t — right after saving Obamacare — don’t check that.”
The Emhoff character turned to his wife, celebrating that they “got the soundbite,” and asked what the pollsters said.
“This is a huge victory,” Rudolph’s Harris said. “It made no difference.”
