‘SNL’ Mitch McConnell Sketch Tests the Line of When Age and Health Jokes Go Too Far: Expert

Saturday Night Live turned Sen. Mitch McConnell‘s health optics into one of its darkest jokes of the season, but the target was not simply his age. The sketch used documented questions about an active politician’s ability to serve as its satiric premise.

During the cold open, Republican operatives attempted to film a midterm get-out-the-vote video featuring McConnell, played by Mikey Day. After sitting through several silent moments, Day’s McConnell abruptly said, “Live from New York,” only to be told it was too early for the signature line.

He flashed a peace sign and was rolled off-screen.

When a Health Joke Has a Satiric Point

“There’s not a clear line in the sand for these types of age/health jokes, but we do want to look at if a joke is fair or not,” said Matt Fotis, an award-winning writer, performer, and professor of Theatre at Albright College.

“In the case of the joke about Mitch McConnell being wheeled out for a campaign ad, that’s fair because the joke is based on well-documented events,” he added.

McConnell, 84, was hospitalized in June and remained largely outside public view for more than a month. After returning to Capitol Hill, he sometimes appeared to require prompting during votes.

“His health has been a major topic for months, it was shrouded in mystery, and when he finally did publicly appear, he did seem to freeze up in much the same way that he was depicted,” Fotis explained. “There is a satiric point to the joke and it is more than fair to point to his current health and ask if he can fulfill his duties.”

Context Separates Satire From Distortion

“What would make the joke not fair is if the Senator had stepped down from his position in the senate and then SNL still made fun of him for his health, or if they were using a disingenuous video clip to make the ‘freezing’ event seem like something different,” Fotis said.

If a brief pause were presented as incapacity despite the senator subsequently delivering a “cogent” speech, he added, “there would be no satiric point to that joke.”

Partisanship Changes How Jokes Land

“What SNL and other late night comedians cannot control is how a joke is interpreted,” Fotis said.

Audiences increasingly judge political comedy through their existing loyalties, accepting attacks on opponents while rejecting similar jokes about their own side.

“We have kind of self-selected out of hearing hard truths about ‘our side,'” Fotis said. “And that’s not a great thing for political comedy or for a healthy democracy, both of which rely on an environment where we can make jokes about our leaders.”