The buzz for Beto O’Rourke for Senate has reached well beyond his state of Texas, thanks to social media. With celebrities sharing their support for him and clips of his inspiring speeches and debates going viral, it may have only been a matter of time before “Saturday Night Live” wanted to weigh in on the race.
The NBC late-night sketch comedy series did so by going inside a hyped-up rally that at first glance seemed like it was for O’Rourke, due to its young hype people (host Awkwafina and long-time “SNL” cast member Kenan Thompson) and tee-shirt canons, only to drop a banner for Ted Cruz (Beck Bennett) instead.
“When God whispered to me that I should run for Senate, he didn’t tell me it was going to be a popularity contest,” Bennett as Cruz said, “but we are going to throw the coolest rally in town.”
From there, he attempted to launch into a stand-up comedy routine about democrats but had audio issues with his microphone, so Awkwafina swooped in to say if he couldn’t sound cool, they could at least make him look cool.
Passing a basketball between the three of them, Bennett’s Cruz was going to attempt to dunk a basketball, but when he dribbled, it just landed with a thud at his foot.
Even the “emergency party button” was a dud, dumping a clump of wet confetti at his feet. But hey, at least they tried.
Watch the rally sketch below:
“Saturday Night Live” airs live coast-to-coast Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC.