Jim Carrey's Biden mutes Alec Baldwin's Trump in SNL cold open debate parody

Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey.
(Image credit: Screenshot/NBC)

Saturday Night Live is back.

The live comedy sketch show was up and running again Saturday night for its 46th season on NBC. The episode, which did not shy away from President Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis, actually began with a cold open parody of Tuesday evening's presidential debate between the incumbent, Trump, who was once again portrayed by Alec Baldwin, and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, who was played by Jim Carrey. SNL alum Maya Rudolph also returned to the stage during the skit as Biden's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

The skit took aim at the chaotic nature of the actual debate, which was rife with interruptions. Beck Bennett's Chris Wallace struggled, as did the real Wallace, to keep things on track as moderator before Rudolph's Harris came in to assert control.

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Carrey's Biden spent quite a bit of time talking to himself in an attempt to stay calm, but usually couldn't refrain from getting angry at Baldwin's Trump, who continuously cut him off. In the end, Carrey's Biden simply muted and froze his opponent, so he could get a clean word out. Watch the full skit below and read more about the rest of the season premiere, which was hosted by Chris Rock, at The Washington Post. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim O'Donnell

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.