SNL returns with Joe Biden, divided Democrats and infrastructure plan

NBC’s late-night live television broadcast Saturday Night Live returned for its 47th season, starting with a new US President Joe Biden in its premier. The Democrat was played by comedian-actor James Austin Johnson. 

A new member of the SNL lineup, Johnson started the season premier with – “What’s cookin’, what’s good? How was everybody’s summer? Mine was bad, not Cuomo bad but definitely not Afghanistan good.”

Johnson’s Biden added that on the bright side, he “went the entire summer without falling down the stairs once.”

The actor, who has been seen making impressions of former White House incumbent Donald Trump, parodied Biden’s attempts to urge Democrats to compromise on his infrastructure plan.

Johnson’s Biden was then joined by some Democratic leaders like Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, played by Cecily Strong and Sen. Joe Manchin, played by Aidy Bryant, as well as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, played by Melissa Villaseñor, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, played by Ego Nwodim.

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Bryant’s Manchin introduced himself as “a Democrat from West Virginia. If I vote for electric cars, they’re going to kill me.”

“What do I want from this bill? I’ll never tell, because I didn’t come to Congress to make friends — and so far, mission accomplished,” Strong’s Sinema said. 

After thanking Biden for not “calling me Kamala,” Nwodim’s Omar, a liberal democrat, said she was “designed in a lab to give Tucker Carlson a heart attack.”

“I wore a dress that said, ‘Tax the rich’ and then spent all night partying with the rich,” Villaseñor’s Ocasio-Cortez said. 

“I’m saying we need at least $300 billion in clean energy tax credits,” she added. 

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“And I’m saying $0,” Bryant’s Manchin responded.

“See? Same page!” Johnson’s Biden said.

The group was then joined by other Democrats like former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, played by Pete Davidson, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, played by Alex Moffat.  Schumer was there to promote his book “Sandwiches I Have Liked and Tried” while Cuomo’s book was titled “Whoops.”