Stories

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

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

Saturday Night Live