Larry David’s fake Bernie Sanders upstages the real thing on ‘SNL’

The show’s cold open featured Taran Killam playing GOP candidate Ted Cruz describing himself as “a nasty little weasel”.

Political junkies and fans of Larry David’s brand of awkward comedy alike got a treat last night as Saturday Night Live married the two in a sketch lampooning Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.

Right on queue, Bernie Sanders appears dressed in period costume and a flat cap to shout David down. “Listen, you need the black vote Bernie”.

Sanders, however, didn’t feature until later in the show, starting by picking a fight with David on a steam ship destined for America way back when.

In it, David’s Sanders stumbles into a series of Larry David-style predicaments, like not shaking the hand of a woman on the rope line after a rally because she had just sneezed into it. Sanders was on screen for about a minute. His second appearance might have been even sharper, but he was overshadowed by that night’s host – one Donald Trump. Sanders corrects David, and replies, “Democratic socialism”.

“Bern Your Enthusiasm” merged David’s awkward, neurotic portrayal of himself from his HBO show Curb Your Enthusiam with his depiction of the Vermont senator, making for a presidential candidate that rankles his peers and ultimately loses the Iowa caucuses because of his germaphobia. “Did you notice that David comes on stage last, after the Hillary Clinton character?” asks Grier after David’s first SNL sketch as Sanders in October.

Despite hopes that the real-life Sanders would face David’s impersonation of him, the pair did not cross paths. David asked his muse before the band came out.

“Yeah, that’ll trick them”, David quipped, as the ship’s captain revealed they were in NY and all going to survive the maritime mishap. But Saturday’s episode was the first time Sanders joined his impersonator on screen.

With the New Hampshire primary approaching on Tuesday, politics permeated “SNL”. Sanders’ Twitter page avatar was switched to an image of David impersonating him. Dressed as a shabby immigrant and incited his famous 1% shtick in an argument towards David’s wealthy character who would make it to the lifeboats before the poor.