Sophia Michaels
Saturday Night Live kicked off with a spoof of this week’s Jan. 6 Committee hearing, as well as recently publicized footage of Congressional leaders responding to the events of Jan. 6 while on Capitol Hill.
“January 6 was one of the most dramatic and consequential moments in our nation’s history. So to fight back, we assembled a team of monotone nerds to do a powerpoint,” began Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (Kenan Thompson).
Rep. Liz Cheney (Heidi Gardner) then reflected on how the committee has worked over the last few months to present its case to all Americans, “whether you’re a Republican who’s not watching, or a Democrat who’s nodding so hard your head is falling off.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (Mikey Day) went on to read excerpts from alt-right message boards leading up to the insurrection. The FBI “found disturbing comments like, ‘Who wants to burn D.C. to the ground?’ ‘Anyone got room in their car for me me, 10 rifles and 30 snakes?’ ‘Where do we park?’ ‘Is there a shuttle from La Quinta?’ and ‘Am I at wrong Washington? I see a Space Needle.’”
Later on, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Chloe Fineman) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Sarah Sherman) were huddled in a secure location as Trump’s supporters ransacked the Capitol.
A frantic-sounding Pelosi was on the phone asking when and how the Electoral College certification could resume, while Schumer was preoccupied by how a DoorDash order with “very light mustard” hadn’t yet been delivered.
Meanwhile, then-President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) embarked on a stream of consciousness ramble in a phone call of his own that concluded with the question, “Is Mike Pence dead yet?”
The sketch wrapped with members of the committee — who voted to subpoena the former president — sounding quite confident that he will comply.
“Trump is 100 percent coming [to Washington] and this time he will be held accountable,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Andrew Dismukes). “Sure, he got away with a lot of stuff in the ’70s, the ’80s, the ’90s, the early 2000s, the 2010s, and the early 2020s. But that ends now!”
