‘SNL’ Cold Open Kicks Off With Kenan Thompson’s Herschel Walker, Cecily Strong’s Kari Lake (Video)

“Saturday Night Live” kicked off its latest episode by highlighting three prominent Republican candidates currently in the midterms race: Herschel Walker, Kari Lake and Mehmet Oz.

Positioned as an episode of PBS News Hour hosted by Heidi Gardner’s Judy Woodruff – who introduced the show as “what you’re grandma’s talking about when she says, ‘I saw this on the news’” – the “SNL” cold open began by throwing to an ace Kenan Thompson as Georgia senate candidate Herschel Walker.

“My name is Herschel Walker Texas Ranger and I’m running for president of the United Airlines,” he began, poking fun at Walker’s numerous gaffes on the campaign trail.

“The whole world is a mystery, ain’t it?” Thompson’s Walker continued. “For example, a thermos, it keeps the hot things hot but also the cold things cold. My question is, how do it decide? So we’re gonna be looking into that very much.”

The cold open also delved into the numerous abortion scandals plaguing Walker, as the former NFL player has been the subject of multiple women claiming Walker pressured them to have abortions despite his public opposition to abortion.

“Like the great Trump Donald said, I could pay for an abortion in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters,” Thompson’s Walker said.

Cecily Strong’s Kari Lake appeared in soft focus, explaining her appeal to voters in the Arizona gubernatorial race: “Frankly, I’ve just clicked with many of the wonderful, terrified elderly people here in Arizona, the Florida of the West.”

Strong’s Lake also took aim at the former TV anchor’s frequent mention of crime in places other than Arizona.

“Arizonans want to talk about the issues that affect them, like crime in New York or crime in Detroit,” she said before adding, “Nothing I say can be incendiary because I say it in TV voice.”

Thompson’s Walker closed out the sketch with, “Yippee ki yay and go Halloween.”

Watch the “SNL” cold open in the video above.

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