SNL Asks GOP: After Allegations Against Roy Moore, How Low Can It Go?
With Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore facing allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls back when he was in his 30s, the limits of his party members' support have been tested to gross effect. The opening sketch in this week's "Saturday Night Live" (hosted by comedian Tiffany Haddish*) imagined a cringe-worthy exchange between Moore (played by Mikey Day) and Vice President Mike Pence (played by Beck Bennett), who kindly encourages Moore to drop out of the race.
Stealing the scene, as usual, is Kate McKinnon as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former holder of the seat Moore is running for. She pops out of a cabinet to list Moore's many disturbing actions: "[You] wave a gun around on stage, tell folks Muslims shouldn't be allowed in politics, and that 9/11 was God's punishment for sodomy... You check a lot of boxes for me, Roy," says the self-described dethroned "creepiest one in the room." But then Sessions admits that after the new allegations, Roy's actions cross a line.
"C'mon, Jeff, you know I was just kidding," says Moore. "Kidding," it turns out, is a verb with a sickening definition, as Moore explains before Sessions shoos him out.
After a slew of jabs at Alabama, Sessions reflects on all the "men out there acting like monsters: Mr. Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, the president... Has this been happening forever? Have I both fostered and benefited from a culture of systemic oppression?"
The audience is silent, captivated by the imagined image of a real-life racist and misogynist asking this resonant question.
This reflection occurs, by the way, as Sessions speaks to a dead possum. So when Sessions hears that the answer is no, that spell is quickly broken.
Watch:
(*Haddish's excellent take on sexual harassment in her opening monologue, by the way, is worth watching.)
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