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NBC’s SNL Grasps At Humor In Mueller Report

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Saturday Night Live took to the airwaves this weekend, mining the Mueller report for skits mocking the investigation’s effect on political and media opponents.

The show opened with a somber Robert Mueller, a recurring role played by Robert De Niro, reading Attorney General William Barr‘s summary of the special counsel investigation, which was released March 23.

The skit jumped back and forth between a stony Mueller, a happy Barr, played by SNL-regular Aidy Bryant and Alec Baldwin as the giddy President Trump, contrasting how each interpreted the same words of Barr’s letter.

Grinning about the report’s findings related to obstruction of justice, Bryant (playing Barr) declares,”… my conclusion is: Trump’s clean as a whistle.”

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SNL covered the Mueller report release again in a skit later in the evening entitled “Kremlin Meeting” that featured an apologetic Vladimir Putin, played by Beck Bennett, trying to comfort those anguished by the Mueller report results. A skeptical Kim Jong-Un, drops by and compares Putin to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who appeared emotional while reporting on the Mueller report release.

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The show’s final reaction to the Mueller report release came in its pillar “Weekend Update” segment, where hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che called Trump “White OJ” and mocked Fox News’ reporting of the findings with the song “Celebration” from Kool & The Gang.

“It’s like if Scrooge woke up on Christmas morning, discovered he had a second chance at life, and found Tiny Tim and took a crowbar to his good leg.” Jost said when characterizing Trump’s reaction to the report during various press conferences.

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Both the opening and Kremlin skits referenced possible future activity in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, a focus shift for many liberals after the report’s disappointing findings, according to The Washington Examiner. Legal proceedings there are related to possible campaign finance violations and not the Russian investigation.

Trump has criticized SNL throughout his presidency for their portrayal of himself and of Republicans in general, recently tweeting “… how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into.”

While Saturday evening’s show ranked #1 in its major network time slot, the ratings tied for a season low in adults 18-49, as reported by Deadline Media.

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