'SNL' Parodies Brett Kavanaugh Hearings in Cold Open With Matt Damon

Saturday Night Live kicked off its 44th season with a political cold open sketch satirizing the [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Saturday Night Live kicked off its 44th season with a political cold open sketch satirizing the hearings for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

In the sketch, SNL cast Matt Damon as Kavanaugh. Damon came out swinging, parodying Kavanaugh's frustrated demeanor during Thursday's testimony. Rachel Dratch also stopped by as Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who asked Kavanaugh if he liked beer.

Fans at home were laughing hysterically, especially after Dratch showed up. There was also an Alyssa Milano cutout, since the actress could not be there.

Later, Kate McKinnon gave a hilarious performance as South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. However, it was Damon's Kavanaugh that stole the show with his impersonation.

"Am I angry? You're damn right. But if you think I'm angry now, you just wait until I'm on the Supreme Court, 'cause then you're all going to pay," Damon's Kavanaugh said. "Gimme a can of water."

He was then handed a can of "water," which he guzzled down before saying, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

On Thursday, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on her sexual assault claim against Kavanaugh. She accused Kavanaugh of attacking her at a party in 1982, when both her in high school. In her testimony, she detailed how Kavanaugh allegedly put his hands over her mouth and tried to "rape" her.

"Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time, because he was very inebriated, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit underneath my clothing," Ford testified. "I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me."

Ford later said she was "100 percent" sure Kavanaugh assaulted her.

During his testimony, Kavanaugh vehemently denied assaulting Ford and said he was not at the party Ford described. Kavanaugh has also denied allegations of sexual misconduct from two other women, Julie Swetnick and Deborah Ramirez.

On Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee reconvened to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination. Members voted 11-10 along party lines to move the nomination to the main Senate floor, but Republican Sen. Jeff Flake demanded a one-week delay on the final vote to allow for an FBI investigation. Hours later, President Donald Trump agreed to let the FBI do so.

"I've ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh's file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week," Trump said in a statement.

Flake's surprising decision came after he was confronted by two sexual assault survivors in an elevator on his way to the committee chamber, just minutes after his office said he would support Kavanaugh's nomination.

"Just these last couple of days — the hearing itself, the aftermath of the hearing, watching pundits talk about it on cable TV, seeing the protesters outside, encountering them in the hall. I told [Democratic Sen. Chris Coons] 'Our country's coming apart on this — and it can't.' And he felt the same," Flake told The Atlantic.

New episodes of SNL air Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: NBC

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