By now, we’ve gotten more Biden impressions on Saturday Night Live than is strictly necessary. We had Jason Sudeikis in the late aughts, then Woody Harrelson a few times in 2019, and finally Jim Carrey’s strange interpretation of the president last season (Alex Moffat also made exactly one underwhelming appearance as Biden last year). But new featured player James Austin Johnson had the (no doubt terrifying) honor of opening last night’s season premiere with his own gravelly take on Biden. Though Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong made very funny appearances as Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, respectively, along with Ego Nwodim as Ilhan Omar and Melissa Villaseñor as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, this cold open was entirely Johnson’s show. Johnson’s Biden is a simple man who loves trains (“the sliding bathroom doors that don’t quite lock!â€) and who has none of Carrey’s idiosyncratic twitchiness. For that, at least, we are grateful.
James Austin Johnson’s Biden Brokers a Deal in SNL Cold Open
