Cecily Strong Nails Impersonation of Melissa Carone in ‘SNL’ Cold Open

'Saturday Night Live' pokes fun at the Michigan state house hearing on the 2020 election.

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After three weeks away, Saturday Night Live returned for the first episode of its 46th season tonight.

In the cold open, the SNL cast parodied the recent Michigan hearings on alleged election fraud in the presidential election. Kate McKinnon reprised her role as Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani while Cecily Strong played Giuliani’s star witness Melissa Carone. The testimonies became more absurd as Heidi Gardner, Pete Davidson, and Kyle Mooney all appeared with bizzare claims. Even Nicole Kidman's character from The Undoing made a cameo.

The last cold open tackled Biden's then-fresh election victory. Jim Carrey and Maya Rudolph played the Biden-Harris ticket (a role they'll likely hold on to for the next four years) and they gloated about the decisive win, and Rudolph joked about Harris' many historic wins as the first woman vice president.  

“Like Joe, I am humbled and honored to be the first female, the first Black, the first Indian-American, and the first biracial vice president,” she said. “And if any of that terrifies you, well, I don’t give a funt. Also, my husband will be the first Second Gentleman, and he’s Jewish, so between us we check more boxes than a disqualified ballot.”

Alec Baldwin trotted out his reliable Donald Trump impersonation looking suitably cowed. Baldwin performed a somber version of "Macho Man"  and then promised that he would return, both in character as Trump and as a nod to the fact that Baldwin's likely to stick around SNL for the foreseeable future. 

“This isn’t goodbye, America. I’m just gonna say: see you in court!” Baldwin said as Trump.

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