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Saturday Night Live opened with President Joe Biden (Mikey Day) welcoming “Chinese dignitary” Tian Tian (Bowen Yang), one of the three pandas that were transported from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. to China earlier this month.
“I’m honored to be here, but am I the only one that wassurprised that the presidents ofthe two biggest economies in theworld met, and everyone’s justlike, ‘What’s up with the pandas?’” Yang said behind the presidential seal.“I mean, I get it. I’m hot, I’m smart, I’malluringly asexual, but therehave to be bigger issues, right?”
Biden met this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who indicated that his country will send more pandas to the U.S., calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.” After the departure of Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, only four pandas remain in the states.
This storyline received plenty of coverage–perhaps too much, as SNL‘s sketch hinted at. One reporter’s (Andrew Dismukes) question originally directed at Biden, for instance, took a left turn.
“President Biden, Trump’s team has announced they will replaceall federal workers with Trumployalists.My question is: Panda, did youlike America?”
“Honestly, I loved it,” Yang replied. “There’s so much I’m going tomiss.Legal weed… Anyway, going backto China, it’s going to be a bigchange.I mean, I don’t know anyone inChina.I haven’t been back since I wasa baby, and now I have to makefriends as an adult?Yuck.”
Another reporter (Marcello Hernandez) would go on to ask Yang about the Chinese president describing pandas as “envoys of friendship.”
“As the rare person whoidentifies as Black, white, andChinese, I feel like I’m in theunique position to unite manypeoples of the world,” he explained. “I’m just like another hot‘blasian’ icon: Tiger Woods.”
Biden closed by noting what he and Tian Tian have in common: “people love sharing videos of us falling down.”
