Bernie Sanders candidacy has been a godsend for SNL because they keep getting the chance to invite Larry David back on the show. Having a guy like David around to sub in for a bit part in a sketch helps to elevate it to a watchable level. Also he’s not bad at performing as Bernie Sanders.
Here he trades the cold open with Darrell Hammond’s Donald Trump getting the support of Jay Pharoah’s Ben Carson. It’s fun, it plays up Bernie being old, Trump’s alleged racism, and Ben Carson’s rough upbringing. There’s even an appearance by a steak playing a Trump steak. You can tell it’s not one of the real Trump steaks because it isn’t vacuum sealed, thawed, or attempting to assimilate the rest of the organic material around it.
But David is the highlight here and he even shows up a bit later to introduce Ariana Grande during her musical act. Or he tried to. David just couldn’t seem to get the name out of his mouth and instead of attempting to pause to correct himself, he decided to just say f*ck it and walk off.
It makes perfect sense for the live show, it isn’t exactly a wild moment, but it’s still great because Larry David is involved. The only way it’d be better is if David didn’t even attempt to say the name at all, shrugged, and then pointed to the stage.