In his return to Saturday Night Live this weekend, comedian Nate Bargatze reprised his role as the United States’ first president, George Washington. Back in November of 2023, Bargatze’s stand-out sketch as host was “Washington’s Dream,” so it’s no surprise that this week he starred in “Washington’s Dream 2.” Back then, he used the founder’s likeness to mock the unique measuring systems of the U.S., and this time he took aim at the nation’s linguistic quirks.
The sketch found Washington in a rowboat on the Delaware River, once again speaking with four Revolutionary War soldiers played by Mikey Day, James Austin Johnson, Bowen Yang and Kenan Thompson. Sensing that the men were in need of inspiration, Washington gave them a speech about what they are really fighting for: the freedom to “do our own thing with the English language.”
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“I dream one day that our great nation will have a word for the number 12,” Bargatze said melodramatically. “We shall call it ‘a dozen.’” As before, the other actors set up Bargatze to highlight the inconsistencies in our language, asking if any other numbers will have dedicated words.
“None,” he said. “Only 12 shall have its own word because we are free men, and we will be free to spell some words two different ways.” When asked to elaborate, he said simply: “Donut.”
Bargatze went on to sardonically plan out the way Americans would spell the name Jeff/Geoff, the way that animals and meat products would be named, the artwork on the dollar and the naming conventions for public school grades, among other things. As before, he ignored Thompson’s frequent interjections asking about the practice of slavery and the rights of Black Americans. When asked if slaves would be freed “after this war,” he responded: “after a war.”
This kind of humor suits Bargatze well. The 45-year-old stand-up comic is known for his generally “clean comedy,” avoiding jokes that play on shock value and social taboos. He was even named “The Nicest Man in Stand-Up” by The Atlantic in 2021. In the previous “Washington’s Dream” sketch, he poked fun at the nation’s resistance to the metric system, and the inconsistency of when and how certain measurements are used.
New episodes of Saturday Night Live are streaming on Peacock, including Bargatze’s episode this weekend. Bargatze’s newest stand-up special, Hello World, is streaming now on Prime Video.
