Watch 'Saturday Night Live' Give George Santos a Hilarious Congressional Farewell
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As the curtain fell on former Republican New York U.S. Rep. George Santos’s tumultuous tenure in Congress, Saturday Night Live captured the moment with a cold open sketch that may have marked an end to his political career but perhaps not his time in the public eye.
In Saturday’s episode, cast member Bowen Yang portrayed the expelled congressman in a performance that was both a comedic highlight and a poignant commentary on Santos’ controversies.
Yang delivered a performance filled with dramatic flair and satirical jabs. He opened the sketch with a bold statement.
“This entire country has been bullying me just because I’m a proud gay thief. What else is new?” he asked. “America hates to see a Latina queen winning.”
Related: Watch Bowen Yang Slay As George Santos on SNL
Yang’s Santos character flamboyantly declared during a press conference, “I’m no longer Congressman Santos. I’m just regular old Professor Major General Reverend Astronaut Santos, protector of the realm, princess of Genovia.”
This line, dripping with irony, exaggeration, and a Princess Diaries reference, not only elicited laughs but also underscored the numerous fabrications and embellishments that marked Santos’s real-life political saga.
The sketch reached a crescendo as Yang’s Santos compared himself to iconic figures before breaking into song. “They’ll think of me as the modern Princess Diana and the modern Marilyn Monroe,” he announced.
In an unforgettable moment, Yang’s Santos sat at a piano, channeling Elton John with a “Scandal in the Wind” rendition, a clever parody on John’s classic “Candle in the Wind.”
George Santos Expelled Cold Open - SNL www.youtube.com
“They crawled out of the woodwork / They whispered, ‘He used my donations for Botox,’ and I said, ‘It was fillers, slut,’” Yang sang.
The piano farewell harkened to 2016 when former cast member Kate McKinnon's Hillary Clinton after Donald Trump shocked the political sphere by winning that year’s election.
Election Week Cold Open - SNL www.youtube.com
McKinnon, as Clinton, sang a version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
As Yang sang, “It seems to me I’ve lived my life like a scandal in the wind / Never knowing who to cling to when the law closed in,” the audience was treated to a moment of comedic brilliance.
While the sketch may have signified an end to Santos’ political career, recent developments suggest that his story is far from over. HBO Films has announced a movie inspired by Santos’ rise and fall.
Related: George Santos, the Fabulist Lawmaker, Is Expelled from Congress
With Veep executive producer Frank Rich at the helm, the project will be a dark comedy that delves into the congressional race on Long Island that eventually led to Santos's rise. It was first reported by Deadline.
Santos’s expulsion from the U.S. House of Representatives marked a rare and significant moment in Congressional history. This decision followed a detailed investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which found Santos guilty of misconduct, including fabricating substantial parts of his resume, identity theft, and misuse of campaign funds for personal expenses. With 311 votes in favor, Santos's expulsion was a moment of rare bipartisanship in the body.
While Santos’ chapter in Congress has closed, his story continues to captivate, suggesting that we haven’t heard the last of George Santos, at least not in public discourse and entertainment.
Santos faces 23 criminal counts for which he’s been indicted in federal court. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
