Saturday Night Live has mocked New York Governor Andrew Cuomo 's nursing home and sex harassment scandal a week after the comedy sho...
Saturday Night Live has mocked New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's nursing home and sex harassment scandal a week after the comedy show was criticized for ignoring allegations that his office covered up thousands of nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic.
The show's cold open took aim at the chaotic rollout of the COVID vaccine with Kate McKinnon playing the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The show spoofed a game show titled So You Think You Can Get a Vaccine in which three state governors were judges who had to decide whether contestants who wanted the coronavirus vaccine were eligible or not.
SNL's cold open mocked Dr. Anthony Fauci and the COVID vaccine rollout plan
The skit took aim at behavior of the California Governor Gavin Newsom, left, New York's Andrew Cuomo, center and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, pictured right
Hello and welcome to So You Think You Can Get The Vaccine. Let’s meet our panel of judges. pic.twitter.com/MHuo3ytzhF
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) February 28, 2021
'Getting the vaccine shouldn't be a competition but Americans will only want to get it if someone else can't,' McKinnon's Fauci said as she introduced the game show.
'The vaccine roll out is going strong, but it's also very confusing. Who can get it? How? When? Where is it? Do both doses go in the same arm or different arms or what? I don't know.'
California Governor Gavin Newsom played by Alex Moffet, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer played by Cecily Strong and New York Andrew Cuomo played by Pete Davidson were all portrayed.
McKinnon's Fauci introduced Davidson's Cuomo with a bluntness that generated huge laughs.
'Next, he's currently under fire for futzing with old dead people and also for the kind of sexual harassment allegations that make you go, "Yeah, I can see that." It is New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo.'
The blistering introduction came as a second former aide has come forward to accuse the Governor of sexual harassment.
'Yes, hello. Nice bodies, some of you,' Davidson's Cuomo responded. 'I know, I'm in the frigging doghouse again. Remember when your favorite movie was my powerpoints? Remember, today is Tuesday? When can we go back to that? I mean, come on,' he started as his character hankered after simpler times when the governor was at one point admired for his leadership during the pandemic.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was 'in the doghouse again'. The line was in direct reference to several scandals that have embroiled governor
On Saturday a second former aide to Cuomo came forward with allegations of sexual harassment, including that he asked personal questions about her sex life
In the game show, the judges explained what they believed to be the essential workers in their state who would each qualify for the vaccine.
California's Newsom said 'police, hospital staff, neuropaths and psychics' were essential workers. For those living in Michigan Whitmer declared 'fishers, truckers and trappers,' to be essential.
For New York, Cuomo joked 'tough guys, wise guys, rich guys and five guys.'
Contestants appeared on set attempting to convince the judges they were worthy of a vaccine including a woman who said she had herpes, a young woman pretending to be elderly and a pregnant lady.
The judges each agreed that they were not sure if she was able to be safely vaccinated.
An elderly contestant attempted to become eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine but was then told they would need to book an appointment online which left them stumped
Cuomo's recent scandal over Covid nursing home deaths was also referred to and saw the character joke that a contestant leave the nursing home and head to a hospital
After the various contestants were all found to be ineligible to receive the shot, finally an elderly man was told that he qualified only to be told that he would have to book his appointment online to which he responded that he didn't have a computer.
After resigning himself to the fact he would not be able to secure a slot to be vaccinated, Cuomo, played by Pete Davidson gave him some advice: 'If you do feel sick, make sure you leave the nursing home and get to the hospital, wink' he said.
The line was a direct reference to the recent scandal that has embroiled the three term senator into whether his administration sought to hide the true toll of the pandemic.
Last March, Cuomo issued a directive barring nursing homes from refusing patients based solely on a COVID-19 diagnosis.
He defended the directive as an effort to prevent catastrophic hospital overcrowding and discrimination against virus patients.
Earlier this month, the state´s Democratic attorney general chastised the Cuomo administration for minimizing the death toll at nursing homes by excluding certain fatalities from the count.
Cuomo's administration then revealed at least 15,000 people living in long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19, nearly double the number Cuomo had initially disclosed.
It was then reported that Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa admitted the administration withheld data on the nursing home deaths from state lawmakers, fearing an official investigation from the federal government.
A character appeared portraying Ted Cruz who has recently been involved in a scandal of his own making after he deserted his home state and headed to a Cancun beach resort while Texas was enduring aftermath of some of the worst storms for a generation.
Later in the game show, a character appeared portraying Ted Cruz, played by Aidy Bryant, who has recently been involved in a scandal of his own making after he deserted his home state and headed to a Cancun beach resort while Texas was enduring aftermath of the worst storms for a generation.
'Oh, it is great to be back in New York City. I'm sorry. My arms are tired because I just flew back from cancun, Mexico. But can you really blame a brother for wanting some sun?' Cruz joked.
This week's show was hosted by Nick Jonas who performed double duty and was the also SNL's musical guest.
Nick's brother Kevin was also seated in the audience. He asked his brother if they were 'still a band' explaining that he had 'just bought a house'.
Nick reassured him that the pair were still a duo.
This week's show was hosted by Nick Jonas who performed double duty and was the also SNL's musical guest
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