Over the weekend, President Biden delivered the annual State of the Union Address in which he commented on the economy, various policies, and many other aspects of the government’s current state compared to the past, as well as hopes for the future. President Biden’s speech was immediately followed by Alabama Senator Katie Britt’s response from the Republican Party. Her response was quickly criticized for its overall strange nature, and SNL jumped on the opportunity to parody her unique speech patterns, interesting talking points, and odd shooting location choice.
In true SNL fashion, they created a hyperbolic, satirical version of the speech, which pointed out how crazy the senator seemed throughout the course of her response. Scarlett Johansson, a special guest on Saturday’s show, perfectly mimicked Senator Katie Britt’s odd mannerisms, breathy speaking, and hand motions. The skit commented on the senator’s apparent need to acknowledge that she is not only a senator, but also a wife and a mother and called out her speech for seemingly having a negative outlook on our country by calling it “hell.” Johansson (as Britt) even went so far as to call herself a “scary mom” and seemingly crazy. She also joked that the response was filmed in an eerily empty kitchen because “women love kitchens.” The skit called out the Republican party for seemingly using the senator as a way to appeal to women voters and called out the speech itself for going off on a random and factually inaccurate sex trafficking tangent. All in all, the skit was a wonderful parody of Senator Katie Britt’s unique Republican response.
Not only did SNL parody the Republican’s response, but they also took on the President’s official State of the Union address, mocking President Biden’s seemingly age-induced incompetence. The skit addressed how Biden continuously attempted to sway voters away from voting for Trump in the upcoming election by referring to him as his predecessor and claiming what he did while in office hurt Biden’s ability to lead fully. The skit also joked about Kamala Harris and Mike Johnson’s responses to Biden’s comments throughout the speech, poking fun at Johnson’s nodding and Kamala’s lack of power. Finally, the skit made fun at Marjorie Taylor Green’s absurd attire and rude interruptions throughout the address.
Not only were both the State of the Union Address and the Republican rebuttal parodied through SNL’s skits, but Michael Che and Colin Jost also commented on each speech during their weekly segment of “The Weekend Update.” When referencing the State of the Union Address, they joked that “Sleepy Joe” had finally woken up, and that the bar is set very low for the current president. They joked the headline for the State of the Union Address would be that Biden was “alive” and compared that to a Bigfoot headline. Che and Jost also made fun of Trump’s insults to Biden’s Address, laughing about his hypocrisy. Che and Jost then went on to bash the senator’s response by allowing clips of Senator Britt’s response to speak for themselves. They compared her speech to a one-woman show and joked that she “made some choices”. After they had mocked both the State of the Union Address and the Republican response, the pair moved on to joke about other politicians and current events.
If you were unable to catch them live but would like to watch them, the full skits and Weekend Update segment can be found on YouTube.
