Kate McKinnon’s Rudy Giuliani has been a mainstay on Saturday Night Live in the Donald Trump era, as the president’s personal lawyer has been a fixture of news cycles for years. But Saturday’s bizarre press conference in Philadelphia just before Trump all but officially lost the White House simply had to be addressed on the Dave Chappelle-hosted show, and McKinnon delivered on Weekend Update.
“Did you see my press conference today? It was at the Four Seasons,” McKinnon said. “Fancy.”
The turnaround on these jokes was impressive: the press conference happened on Saturday morning, just hours before SNL taped in the wake of Biden’s win officially being declared by networks. But given the truly spectacular bounty of humor from that event at a landscaping company next to a porn shop, and how it served to end election season and Trump’s place in it, McKinnon appearing as Giuliani served as a celebration of just how weird so much of Trump’s presidency has been over the years.
“I’m glad I made it to the show on time. First I went to 30 Rocks, it’s a granite quarry in New Rochelle,” McKinnon, who curiously played Rudy wearing what appeared to be a hospital ID band on a wrist.
The Four Seasons jokes were just the start of the weird way McKinnon played the former New York City mayor. Eyes bulging, fingertips spread out at weird angles, Rudy said he would throw out ballots received from Mars, explaining just how to figure out they were coming from another planet. There’s also a lot of physical comedy in the sketch, as McKinnon oftentimes appears to try making only Weekend Update host Colin Jost uncomfortable and giggly by getting very close to him and making various exasperated sighs and sounds, adding to the character’s weirdness.