Saturday Night Live’s Obama Variety Special

Saturday Night Live’s Obama Variety Special

Saturday Night Live’s Obama Variety Special

What if Barack Obama and friends decided to play it safe with his prime-time special by putting on a 70s-style variety show?

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

On Saturday Night Live this week Maya Rudolph joined the cast to guest star as Michelle Obama. She and Fred Armisen’s Barack Obama said they wanted to “shake things up” as a way of managing Obama’s lead in polls in the weeks before election day. As such, their skit parodied major personalities in the Democratic Party and the performance, much like the Obama/Biden lead in the polls, was, as they put it, “solid as Bar-rock.”

Marissa Colón-Margolies

Check out more great Nation videos on our YouTube channel.

Your support makes stories like this possible

From illegal war on Iran to an inhumane fuel blockade of Cuba, from AI weapons to crypto corruption, this is a time of staggering chaos, cruelty, and violence. 

Unlike other publications that parrot the views of authoritarians, billionaires, and corporations, The Nation publishes stories that hold the powerful to account and center the communities too often denied a voice in the national media—stories like the one you’ve just read.

Each day, our journalism cuts through lies and distortions, contextualizes the developments reshaping politics around the globe, and advances progressive ideas that oxygenate our movements and instigate change in the halls of power. 

This independent journalism is only possible with the support of our readers. If you want to see more urgent coverage like this, please donate to The Nation today.

Ad Policy
x