Nov 3, 2019

McKinnon's Warren stars in "SNL" cold open, but a dog steals the show

Axios

A screenshot of the spoof press conference on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" featuring "Conan the dog." Photo: NBC

The "Saturday Night Live" cold open placed Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her "Medicare for All" plan center stage in its latest cold open. But a later sketch on Conan, the hero dog injured in the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, stole the show.

The big picture: Before she got on to her health care plan, "SNL" star Kate McKinnon's Warren acknowledged that former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke had dropped out of the 2020 race.

"Thank you so much for running a great campaign and for sticking around long enough to call me 'punitive,'" she said, in a nod to O'Rourke's remarks made at this month's Democratic Debate. "That was so bad-ass. Let me know how my dust tastes, all right?"
McKinnon returned for the later sketch featuring Conan "the K-9 Commando." This time, she was hosting a fake press conference as White House counselor Kellyanne Conway alongside "SNL" cast member Cecily Strong as a special-forces canine interpreter.

"Now this dog has to meet President Trump — and then he has to testify against President Trump. He was on the Ukraine call too. OK, goodnight."

— McKinnon as Kellyanne Conway

Editor's note: This article has been updated with details of the dog sketch.

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McKinnon's Warren stars in "SNL" cold open, but a dog steals the show

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