Saturday Night Live takes on the White House’s response to coronavirus in hilarious cold open

The cold open sketch on last night’s Saturday Night Live tackled the White House’s response to coronavirus — and it’s a good thing we’re laughing because otherwise we’d be crying.

With the coronavirus concerns increasing as the disease continues to spread to new regions, it was only a matter of time before Saturday Night Live addressed the health crisis — because, let’s be honest, if we don’t laugh about the situation, we’ll all probably start crying.

But SNL kept viewers giggling during its cold open sketch last night, during which it put Beck Bennett onstage to hold a press conference as U.S. vice president Mike Pence. Bennett opened Pence’s bit by telling the audience, “President Trump has put me in charge of the coronavirus even though I don’t believe in science.” The air quotes around science was really all he needed to deliver this joke, and it’s even more of a joke how accurate the impersonation is…

Bennett assured the audience that he was putting together a team to tackle the crisis, bringing Kenan Thompson out to play the role of former neurosurgeon and secretary of the Department of Housing, Ben Carson, who admitted to the audience that “it’s bad.” That was the main sentiment from Thompson’s performance, though it’d be criminal not to point out how hilarious pulling out a picture of Stitch from Lilo and Stitch was. If that’s what the virus looks like, it’s one adorable virus.

Bennett and Thompson also offered the audience some pointers on avoiding the disease, including buying a “Make America Great Again” mask — which, of course, isn’t made in America at all — and “closing your eyes during sex.”

Watch the Coronavirus cold open from last night’s SNL here:

It wasn’t just the Republican party that got roasted on last night’s cold open, though. Once Bennett’s Pence began taking questions from the audience, the Democratic primary candidates also stepped in to make their voices heard — and oh man, does SNL continue to impress with its impressions of the primary frontrunners.

Mike Bloomberg, portrayed by Fred Armisen, was the first in the audience to speak, and he questioned whether the country should have a president who’s “competent and capable,” despite the candidate not being able to “connect with human beings.” It was a clear swipe at both Trump and Bloomberg, and it landed precisely how it was meant to.

Kate McKinnon’s Elizabeth Warren and John Mulaney’s Joe Biden also came onstage, and McKinnon claiming that keeping an eye on Bloomberg is now “her job” was perfect, though not nearly as much as the ridiculous nonsense Mulaney was spewing.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a political cold open without Larry David’s Bernie Sanders, played to perfection, coming in to yell about his lead in the Democratic primary race — and to make a hilarious metaphor comparing the .001% of germs hand sanitizer doesn’t kill with the top one percent of tax payers he’s always ranting about. To be fair, David’s Sanders did suggest not coughing into your hands — one of the genuine pieces of advice viewers can take away from this skit.

Colin Jost and Rachel Dratch also appeared as Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, respectively, competing for the “whole moderate from the midwest shtick.” Dratch threatened to cut him in line at Target — a serious offense if there ever was one — before the group brought things back to coronavirus, suggesting that an elbow cough is far superior to a hand one.

All in all, SNL found a way to make light of something serious that’s been causing anxiety worldwide — and that’s what we love about this show in the first place. We may be no closer to getting rid of coronavirus, but at least we’ve got humor to get us through the tough times. (And to get us through this election, because we definitely need it on that front.)

What’s your favorite recent cold open sketch from Saturday Night Live? Share your thoughts in the comments below!