Saturday Night Live had a surprise guest during the cold open: Elizabeth Warren, live and in the flesh.
Warren recently dropped out of the Democratic presidential nomination race, after failing to secure a single Super Tuesday state. This leaves former vice-president Joe Biden, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, and U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard in the running.
Kate McKinnon, who has gotten into character as Warren on previous episodes of SNL in recent months, was dressed up as Fox News show host Laura Ingraham.
She introduced Warren as a “celebrity interview.”
“The woman who’s habitually murdered Michael Bloomberg on live television, please welcome, Senator Elizabeth Warren,” McKinnon announced to a cheering audience.
“How have you been since dropping out of the race?” she asked the senator.
Warren said her friends and family have been “so supportive.”
“They’ve been calling nonstop, asking ‘Are you okay, what do you need, were you electable?’” she joked.
McKinnon, still in character as Ingraham, asks Warren who she plans on endorsing as a presidential nominee.
“It’s tough, maybe I’ll just pull a New York Times and endorse them both,” Warren said, pointedly referring to the newspaper’s editorial board decision in January to endorse both her and former Democratic candidate Amy Klobuchar.
She was asked if she had any regrets, looking back on her campaign.
Warren said: “Not at all. I am so proud of our campaign. We built a wide coalition of teachers, preschool teachers, middle school teachers, and teachers’ pets.”
She also joked about being able to give a billionaire a “swirly” on live television.
At the end of the cold open, McKinnon re-appeared in character as Warren, visibly excited to mirror the senator on stage: “Sorry, I wanted to put on my favourite outfit to thank you for all that you’ve done in your lifetime!”