‘SNL’ Weekend Update Took On Putin, Ron DeSantis, And Herschel Walker’s Bizarre Congressional Campaign

SNL returned for its 48th season last night, and with it came its first Weekend Update since May. A lot has happened since then. A lot has happened this week alone. Hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che slipped back into the swing of things, taking on such hot button issues as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hurricane Ian, and one of the more bizarre GOP candidates in ages.

First things first: Jost roasted Vladimir Putin, who delivered a bonkers speech in which he decried the U.S. for alleged “Satanism” and its embrace of what he called “many genders.” Said Jost, “It was a hateful, unhinged speech which has many Americans calling him ‘electable.’”

Hurrican Ian, meanwhile, laid waste to parts of Florida. The state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, took a break from tricking refugees into going to Martha’s Vineyard to do work with the president he regularly derides, calling the storm a “500-year flooding event.” Cracked Che, “it’s such a historic tragedy that DeSantis won’t let them teach about it in Florida schools.”

Eventually the segment got to Herchel Walker, the footballer-turned-improbably Senate candidate, whose campaign has been marred by bizarre revelations and creative gaffes. Kenan Thompson played him, alongside James Austin Johnson’s Mitch McConnell, who pretended to be okay with a candidate he has previously brushed off as, well, terrible. At one point Che brought up one of his more out-there claims: “Our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air, so when China gets our good air, the bad air got to move.”

“I’ll slow down so you can understand,” Thompson’s Walker explained. “We all know air, right Air Bud, Air Jordan… Erin Brokevich. Science don’t understand. Everybody talking about climate, but what we really should be focusing on is putting Hawaii closer…. bring that climate over here.”

You can watch Thompson tackle Walker in the video above and watch other portions of Weekend Update below.