In its cold open this week, “Saturday Night Live” went after Fox News stars Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham for hailing Russian President Vladimir Putin after he sent his military to invade Ukraine and bomb civilians.
The pair, a bit belatedly embarrassed by their gushing praise of Putin, starred in what was presented as the “Fox News Ukrainian Invasion Celebration Spectacular” — live from Mar-a-Lago.
“We got into a little bit of trouble for all the nice things we said about Russia and the mean things we said about Ukraine,” admitted Carlson (played by Alex Moffat).
“We did sound pretty awful in hindsight — and foresight,” said Ingraham (Kate McKinnon). “I called the president of Ukraine pathetic. He stayed and fought with his people in the war, and I called him pathetic from the news desk in Washington.”
Carlson recounted: “I kept asking, why do we hate Putin? Aren’t liberals in America even worse? … I kept saying we should be more worried about our own border getting invaded by Mexico. But in my defense, I am racist, so I thought that was true.”
Ingraham noted that Putin “has just criminalized free speech and shut down all independent news organizations.” Carlson asked: “Can we please do that to CNN?”
To make amends for their thoughtlessness, “Ingraham” announced that she and her co-worker were raising money for the real victims of the invasion — the oligarchs.
“So far we’ve raised over $8.3 billion rubles, which comes out to almost $12,” noted “Carlson.”
Not to be outdone, James Austin Johnson popped up as former President Donald Trump to man the phone lines for donations and ramble on about Rihanna, who he said can still “pull it off” pregnant.
He also sang “My Funny Valentine” — to his funny valentine, Vladimir.
Bowen Yang turned up as Putin fan Steven Seagal, and Kimberly Guilfoyle (Cecily Strong) and Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day) sang a creepy duet about Russia and Ukraine getting together.
Last week “SNL” opened the program with a powerful tribute to Ukraine, featuring the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performing “Prayer for Ukraine,” a patriotic hymn and anthem.
Check out the latest cold open in the clip up top.
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