Jason Sudeikis, Larry David And Rachel Dratch Returned To ‘SNL’ For A Democratic Debate Cold Open

Following another chaotic week of American political news, Saturday Night Live used its cold open to tackle the least chaotic of those news items but one that allowed them to use another all-star lineup of special guests to play Democratic presidential candidates.

“So now let’s meet our future MSNBC contributors,” was the first joke of the cold open that recreated Friday night’s Democratic debate in Manchester, New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday’s presidential primary.

Perhaps most notable here was that Jason Sudeikis returned to play Joe Biden. We most recently had seen Woody Harrelson playing Biden, both when he hosted the show and a return guest spot last year. Sudeikis played Biden in the past, even when he was a candidate in the early days of the race last spring. And the same basic gist was there in the latest episode: asked to address his struggles in Iowa and his chances as the primaries continue, he got a laugh about his comeback chances.

“Well I’m gonna be honest with you, losing Iowa was a real kick in the nuts,” Biden said. “But I am not worried at all. By the time we get to South Cackalackie, Joe Biden is gonna do what Joe Biden does best: creep up from behind.”

Larry David returned to play Bernie Sanders, lamenting the (lack of) results in Iowa because of tabulating and reporting app errors.

“Hey I have an idea for an app. It’s called no apps,” Sanders said. “No apps no computers no gadgets and no gizmos.”

Sanders then equated voting to going to “the butchers” and taking a paper number and getting a pound of whatever’s on sale. Rachel Dratch played Amy Klobuchar who once again wondered why as the most “reasonable” candidate she isn’t more popular. Pete Buttigieg claimed that he sounded “like a bot that learned human behavior by watching 100 hours of Obama speeches,” while Pete Davidson played a very polite Tom Steyer, who was friendly but also admitted he was “tripping balls right now.” And while a darkhorse candidate did not appear on the stage, an in-debate ad ran for Mike Bloomberg, played by a drink-sipping Fred Armisen.

You can watch the full debate above.