Those of you that have been tuning into “Saturday Night Live” have probably noticed a common theme over the last few weeks: Namely, the 2016 presidential race.
The weekend comedy show has been skewering candidates for president left and right — some more than others — so much so that we thought it a good idea to track the program’s focus on specific candidates.
Alas, we bring you the SNL primary, a series that will track which candidates are receiving the most comedic coverage on Saturday night — for better or worse.
The standings so far:
Hillary Clinton secures the top spot thus far in the SNL primary, with the comedy program airing three separate sketches starring Kate McKinnon that mock the Democratic candidate for president.
In much the same way that Hillary is the only candidate from the opposite side worthy enough to receive digs from the Republicans, the former secretary of State has been singled out by “Saturday Night Live” as the only liberal candidate worth mocking — and the show has plenty of ammunition to hurl Hillary’s way.
First, McKinnon tackled Hillary’s use of a private email account while at the State Department.
Then, ahead of Clinton’s official presidential announcement, McKinnon offered her own interpretation of Hillary’s first campaign video.
And, most recently, McKinnon characterized Hillary as an out-of-touch candidate of yesterday with a problem appealing to Millennial voters.
As such, Hillary appears to be “winning” the comedic primary.
Ben Carson and Ted Cruz appear to be tied thus far, with both being the subjects of earlier SNL sketches in addition to being featured in the program’s sketch showcasing all six of the Republican Party’s “cool” presidential candidates last week.
Carson received heat on SNL back in March after his controversial comments about how prison makes people gay.
Cruz also got some attention for praising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the Iran nuclear talks.
Behind Carson and Cruz are the rest of the GOP candidates for president who have made their campaigns official, all of whom were featured on last week’s SNL episode.
There’s Mike Huckabee …
… Carly Fiorina …
… Rand Paul …
… and Marco Rubio.
Watch SNL’s roundup of the Republican field below, and stay tuned for more updates on the 2016 SNL primary.
