Saturday’s episode of “SNL” opened with a political sketch that skewered President Biden’s deliberation over a response to Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine, complete with a cameo from Pete Davidson as NFL star Aaron Rodgers.
James Austin Johnson’s President Biden was flanked by advisors who revealed just how bad Russia’s disinformation has gotten, memes and all. When Johnson’s Biden replied that Russia tried misinformation once before and it didn’t work, a military commander played by Kenan Thompson quipped, “40% of Americans think you lost the election, so it kinda did.”
Various fake headlines put out by Russia were shown to the president, ranging from “Russian Forces Surrounding Ukraine Just to Give It Big Hug” to “American CDC Strongly Recommends Russia Invade Ukraine,” and even an extra timely “Neil Young to Remove Music From Spotify Unless Ukraine Surrenders.”
The sketch then presented various American memes that had been co-opted by Russian media, including Michael Jordan crying and the Dos Equis spokesman.
Towards the end of the sketch, the advisors showed Biden various commercials meant to turn Ukrainians toward Russia’s side, including one in which Pete Davidson played Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has come under fire recently for anti-vaccine statements. Davidson (who previously appeared as Rodgers in a November episode) flubbed the punchline, and when Biden asked if people really believed that was Rodgers, Thompson’s character informed him that was Aaron Rodgers, inferring that the NFL athlete was willingly appearing in Russian disinformation.
Watch the sketch in the video above.