John Mulaney’s second hosting gig of the year at Saturday Night Live comes at a very different time than his first, and his opening monologue certainly reflected that on the final Saturday before the presidential election. Mulaney, who’s hosted three times in twelve months now, joked that he’s hosted more than anyone else, but also about the election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, his grandmother’s driver’s license and how comedians should be called “the last responders” in times of crisis.
Mulaney started with a funny bit about how New York is different in a pandemic because you can’t eavesdrop on people as easily. He then turned his attention to New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who gained national attention during the pandemic with his daily press briefings where Mulaney found a lot to laugh about in a dark time.
“A lot of people were binge-watching shows during quarantine, I watched a series that I absolutely loved. It was an hourlong dramedy called the daily press conferences of governor Andrew Cuomo,” Mulaney said. “It told the story of an Italian American father who after being an empty nester finds himself quarantining with his two daughters. Hijinks ensue, but he learns a lot about being a father and a little about being a governor.”
Mulaney didn’t spare the presidential election from his ire, either, though he did describe the decision between Trump and Biden in fairly unflattering terms.
“On Nov. 3 there’s an elderly man contest,” Mulaney said. “But just rest assured that no matter what happens, nothing much will change in the United States.”
It’s a far cry from his “horse in the hospital” riff that went viral earlier in Trump’s term, though perhaps the joke was merely an expression of frustration about another older candidate, Biden, as the alternative for Trump. Mulaney later wondered whether his 94-year-old grandmother should be allowed to vote given how much power America’s gerontocracy has over the rest of the country.
“You don’t get to order for the table when you’re about to leave the restaurant,” Mulaney riffed. You can watch the full monologue above.