Saturday Night Live (SNL) took aim at the Trump administration with a sketch centering around the U.S. military dog injured during the raid in northern Syria last week that took down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In the sketch, SNL cast member Kate McKinnon played White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, and hosted a press conference for the dog.
SNL cast member Cecily Strong played a U.S. Special Forces canine interpreter speaking on behalf of the K-9 Command who has been identified as Conan.
Reporters at the press conference peppered the dog with questions, asking “who’s a good boy?” and “are you a good boy?”
“Seriously, with all due respect,” the interpreter said on behalf of Conan, “I am a trained military assassin and not some basic Labradoodle.”
Another reporter asked if the raid was “scary” for him.
“A little, sure,” the interpreter said. “But it could have been worse — the terrorists have guns and explosives, but at least they don’t have vacuum cleaners.”
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Speaking from the White House last Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced al-Baghdadi’s death, saying the Islamic State leader had “died like a dog” and a “coward.”
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In his statement, Trump claimed al-Baghdadi spent his final moments “crying, whimpering” and “screaming.”
He said “many” of al-Baghdadi’s companions and ISIS fighters were killed during the raid, but that no U.S. personnel were lost in the operation.
Trump added that one dog — later identified as Conan — had been injured.
On Monday, Trump tweeted a declassified photo of Conan, saying he had done “such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS.”
On Wednesday, Trump tweeted a photo altered by the Daily Wire depicting himself awarding the canine a medal.
“American Hero!” the tweet read.
In a tweet two days later, Trump said the photo was a “very cute recreation” but that the “‘live’ version of Conan” would be leaving the Middle East for the White House sometime this week.
In Saturday’s sketch, SNL also took a jab at Trump over the ongoing impeachment probe, centering around his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
At the end of the press conference, McKinnon-as-Conway said Conan had to meet with Trump to update him on the situation in Syria, but then had to testify against the president.
“He was on the Ukraine call too,” she said.
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