“Saturday Night Live” cast member Cecily Strong dished Tuesday night about her encounters with Bernie Sanders and Melania Trump during the sketch comedy giant’s politically charged 41st season.
Strong told “Late Night” host Seth Meyers that the cast was particularly giddy about having Sanders on set in early February.
The Vermont senator had been portrayed sporadically throughout the season by comedian Larry David, most notably in a pre-taped “Bern Your Enthusiasm” sketch.
During David’s hosting gig on Feb. 6, Sanders showed up in a sketch as “Bernie Sanderswitzky,” an immigrant heading to the U.S. who was sick and tired of the rich getting preferential treatment when it came to choosing who gets a seat in a lifeboat on a sinking ship.
“We were all so geekily excited that he was going to be there,” Strong told Meyers. “I think there was one scene where we were rehearsing, and Vanessa [Bayer] and I kept saying, ‘Should we go over and say hi now?’
“And we kept trying to make jokes that were really bad and lame, and I think Taran [Killam] was like, ‘Are you going to the afterparty?’ or something, and he was like, ‘No, I’m going to New Hampshire.’ We were all just falling over ourselves in front of him.”
She also discussed meeting Donald Trump’s wife Melania, who Strong has portrayed on the show.
“I was a little nervous just to make sure she’d like it,” Strong said. “We had the host dinner that night, and she walked in, saw me at the table and she pointed at me. And I was like, is that a good thing? But I found out through the dinner she does approve of it. So I’m OK.”
Meyers was relieved to hear that Melania’s pointing led to something positive.
“That’s good, because a lot of times a Trump points at you, they just drag you away,” Meyers quipped. “And you don’t get to finish your dinner or anything.”
