SNL's Democratic presidential candidates take over Mike Pence's coronavirus press conference
Saturday Night Live returned from a couple of weeks off the air to tackle the coronavirus this weekend.
In Saturday's cold open, Beck Bennett's Vice President Mike Pence, who's in charge of handling the outbreak, tried to lead a press briefing on the matter. He first brought in Housing Secretary Ben Carson (portrayed by Kenan Thompson), who urged people to purchase Make America Great Again face-masks to protect themselves from the virus. The only problem is they were made in Wuhan, China, where the virus originated.
After Carson, the press conference was hijacked by the remaining Democratic presidential candidates, all of whom — to Pence's annoyance — tried to make the case for why they were the best person to lead the U.S.'s efforts to curb the virus. Watch the full skit below. Tim O'Donnell
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Airlines ramp up the hunt for sustainable aviation fuel
The Week Recommends Several large airlines have announced sustainability goals for the coming decades
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: January 13, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku medium: January 13, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
HMPV is spreading in China but there's no need to worry
The Explainer Respiratory illness is common in winter
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Marty Makary: the medical contrarian who will lead the FDA
In the Spotlight What Johns Hopkins surgeon and commentator Marty Makary will bring to the FDA
By David Faris Published
-
California declares bird flu emergency
Speed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Bird flu one mutuation from human threat, study finds
Speed Read A Scripps Research Institute study found one genetic tweak of the virus could enable its spread among people
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dark chocolate tied to lower diabetes risk
Speed Read The findings were based on the diets of about 192,000 US adults over 34 years
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 race
Speed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burger
Speed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Long Covid: study shows damage to brain's 'control centre'
The Explainer Research could help scientists understand long-term effects of Covid-19 as well as conditions such as MS and dementia
By The Week UK Published