SNL Video: Jason Sudeikis Is the Ghost of Biden Past in Cold Open

Oh, what a difference eight years makes.

Jason Sudeikis hosted Saturday Night Live this week for the first time since his 10-year run (including two as a writer), and he brought with him his signature take on then-Vice President Joe Biden to haunt now-President Biden (played by new cast member James Austin Johnson).

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The sketch opened with Jen Psaki (Chloe Fineman) – probably the only member of the White House with a positive approval rating – delivering bad news to POTUS. After she leaves, Biden laments the days when people used to like him. Cue the smoke and Christmas Carol-style lightning….

Sudeikis’ version of Biden bursts onstage with all the vigor and enthusiasm we remember. The handsiness that was creepy when he was VP is almost (almost) charming now. Such as when 2013 Biden rubs President Biden’s shoulders and takes a long, deep inhale of his hair.

The best line of the sketch comes when 2021 Biden laments how the last president made a mess of everything by hanging out with porn stars, serving McDonald’s in the White House, and getting into a fight with the Pope. Understandably, the Biden who knows nothing about the last nine years’ response is: “Wow, Hillary got awesome!”

It’s almost unfair to new cast member Johnson, who is still developing his take on Joe Biden and now is now being compared on-screen with a much more fun version of himself. Sudeikis got to portray the man when he was Vice President to one of the most popular commanders-in-chief in recent memory. Johnson, in contrast, is doing an impression of a much grimmer – dare we say more boring – version? Maybe a happier news cycle will lead to a more fun spin.

Watch the clip by pressing PLAY on the video above, then as always, grade the episode and drop some comments.

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