“SNL” repeatedly mocks Tim Walz in cold open: “Goofy White Guy”

Saturday Night Live has upset Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz over his debate performance against Republican rival JD Vance.

The candidates went head-to-head on Tuesday, with Vance emerging victorious Newsweek readers and writers.

SNL's The cold, frank skit parodied some of the debate's key moments and was staged with impersonations of Vice President Kamala Harris, No. 2 Doug Emhoff and President Joe Biden watching the events unfold on television.

The Minnesota governor was criticized for a verbal gaffe while discussing the school shootings and for appearing unprepared for some questions. Some analysts said he looked “like a deer in headlights.”

When the hosts ask Jim Gaffigan's Walz in the skit how he would solve the Middle East crisis, he replies, “I don't know the answer, so I'll just say the word 'fundamental' a lot because I'm debating.” 30 percent “funny” and 70 percent “crazy.” How am I?”

Responding to a question about abortion and reproductive rights, Gaffigan's waltz starts strong, recalling views on Minnesota's progressive stance on the issue, before trailing off with a description of his constituents' general lack of sex drive.

“You know, in Minnesota we restored a woman's right to choose because we trust women,” he said. “And in Minnesota we also happen to have the lowest teen pregnancy rates because everyone wears lots of layers and eats a lot of lake fish. Just not a great place.”

SNL posted a clip of the skit on X, formerly Twitter, and had 182,000 views as of Sunday morning.

Newsweek has contacted the Harris/Walz campaign via email requesting comment outside of business hours.

Maya Rudolph's Harris smashes her wine glass when Gaffigan's Walz falsely says he's “friends with school shooters,” while Andy Samberg's Emhoff despairs that Walz is giving “silly white guys” a bad name.

“As a goofy white guy, this really sets my boys back,” said Samberg’s Emhoff. “I'm in a group chat with Josh Gad and Jason Kelsey and the mood is somber.”

Even Dana Carvey's Biden criticizes Walz, although he himself had difficulties in the debate against Donald Trump in June and watched the debate on television along with Harris and Emhoff.

“Come on, Walz. What's wrong with this guy? It's crazy. Get your facts straight, Jack. You have to hit him with the words “No kidding,” “Here’s the deal,” and “Let me get this straight.” Anyway, guess what? And by the way, you should talk about all the great things we've done.

The spoofing of Walz is related to SNL's frequent mockery and caricature of Trump, with the Republican presidential candidate feuding with the show, particularly over actor Alec Baldwin's impressions of him. In 2022, he wrote on Truth Social that it was neither funny nor smart and had low ratings.