‘SNL’ ‘Women Of Congress’ Sketch Approved By The Women
Saturday Night Live, over the weekend, aired its latest political sketch, and this one was called “Women of Congress.” A parody of Charlie’s Angels and other shows like it, the sketch presented Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and others as action hero types, doing battle against Donald Trump.
The two-minute sketch gave each of the Congresswomen nicknames, as well as catchphrases, and all wore white, as a group of House members did for the State of the Union address last week.
Kate McKinnon portrayed House Speaker Nancy “Madame Clapback” Pelosi, while Melissa Villasenor was Rep. Alexandria “I Say What I Meme” Ocasio-Cortez. Leslie Jones was Rep. Maxine “Don’t Go Chasing” Waters, while Cecily Strong portrayed Sen. Kyrsten “Kooky Arizona Lady” Sinema. Ego Nwodim played Rep. Ilhan “Get the Hi-Job Done” Omar, while Aidy Bryant played Rep. Annie “Raise The Roof” Kuster. Heidi Gardner was Rep. Abigail “Say My Name, Say My Name” Spanberger, while guest host Halsey stepped in as Rep. Rashida “Impeach the Motherf***er” Tlaib.
While many laughed at the sketch, which also included a voice cameo by Alec Baldwin’s Trump as a Charlie-like speakerphone character, it got some backlash Sunday.
Saturday Night Live portrays Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other women of Congress as the stars of their own action TV show https://t.co/ghPH4e6rcm pic.twitter.com/1UOElEhGcr
— Paste Magazine (@PasteMagazine) February 10, 2019
“Is SNL parodying how we tweet about women in Congress? Or perpetuating it?” Fast Company magazine asked in a headline. The piece went on to note that the sketch is in line with “the internet obsession with turning politicians into cartoonish memes of feminist badassery.”
However, one group of people reacted positively to the sketch: The aforementioned Women in Congress themselves. Or at least three of them did.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted the sketch approvingly, with a cry-laughing emoji and the words “love it.” Rep. Omar wasn’t offended by the “hi-job” line, and approvingly quoted it and tweeted it as well. Rep. Tlaib also praised the sketch and quoted it, stating in a tweet that “@halsey nailed it. Did you catch the can of justice?”
They're…The Women of Congress! #SNL pic.twitter.com/5BzTndkQPz
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 10, 2019
The others, including Pelosi, have not addressed the sketch as of late on Sunday afternoon.
In 2018, in reaction to the first two years of the Trump Administration, a record number of women ran for Congress, and a record 102 of them were elected to the House of Representatives, including 36 who were new to Congress, per Time. Those included the first two Native-American women elected to Congress, Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico and Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas, and the first two Muslim women elected, Tlaib and Omar.
