President Joe Biden, played by James Austin Johnson, delivered a message about COVID-19 in Saturday Night Live's Cold Open on Saturday.
"As I keep saying every chance I get, we're in the middle of a cold, dark winter. This winter is so dark Republicans don't think it should vote," Johnson's Biden said.
"This virus has disrupted our lives," he added. "It's canceled holidays, weddings, quinceañeras, gender-reveal parties, wildfires that started as gender-reveal parties, and whatever the hell is happening with Novak Djokovic."
"I know you're retired of getting emails from your kid's school late at night saying, 'OK, come in tomorrow, we're feeling lucky,'" he said. "I know every time a stranger breathes on you, you think, 'That's it, I'm dead.'
"America, I'm here to tell you, there's one simple thing you can do to make this whole virus go away: Stop seeing 'Spiderman'!"
Former president Donald Trump on Saturday complained that the "fake news" media never reports on the size of the crowd at his Jan. 6 "Stop the Steal" rally prior to the Capitol insurrection.
"They talk about the people that walked down to the Capitol," Trump told the crowd at his MAGA rally in Arizona. "They don't talk about the size of that crowd. I believe it was the largest crowd I've ever spoken before, and they were there to protest the election."
Trump also promoted a false-flag conspiracy theory that the FBI — which he indirectly controlled at the time through the executive branch — was somehow behind the insurrection.
"Exactly how many of those present at the Capitol complex on Jan. 6 were FBI confidential informants, agents, or otherwise working directly or indirectly with an agency of the United States government?" Trump said.
"How about the one guy (who said) 'go in, go in, get in there everybody' — Epps — 'get in there, go, go, go,'" Trump said, referring to Jan. 6 protester Ray Epps.
This week, the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection debunked the conspiracy theory about Epps, which has been pushed by others including Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
"Nothing happens to him," Trump said of Epps. "What happened with him? Nothing happens. Did any of these individuals play any role whatsoever in facilitating the events at the Capitol? That's what we want to know."
Watch below.
Trump on January 6th: They don\u2019t talk about the size of that crowd\u2026 I think it was largest I ever, and the fake news never talks about itpic.twitter.com/FkAIR3NY7b
Trump pushes the fedsurrection conspiracy theory, ignoring that we all witnessed him organizing and inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/1tmNfFxg7a — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 16, 2022
The crowd at former president Donald Trump's rally in Arizona on Saturday repeatedly chanted "lock him up" when speakers, including Trump himself, mentioned Dr. Anthony Fauci's name.
Some speakers also spewed dangerous rhetoric about Fauci, including Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ).
"When we’re back in the majority, I’ll get to see Anthony Fauci and ask him some important questions because that man has been a destroyer," Biggs said of Fauci. After the crowd chanted "lock him up," Biggs added: "Let’s see what happens to Dr. Fauci."
Another speaker, Trump-backed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, told the crowd: "I want to lock somebody down, and it's that liar Dr. Fauci."
After the crowd chanted "lock him up," Lake called Fauci "bad news" and said she also wants to imprison "anybody who was involved in that corrupt shady, shoddy election of 2020. Lock them up."
The crowd also erupted into a "lock him up" chant during Trump's speech, after the former president said Fauci is "like the king."
Watch below.
Biggs: When we\u2019re back in the majority, I\u2019ll get to see Anthony Fauci and ask him some important questions because that man has been a destroyer\nCrowd: *chants lock him up*\nBiggs: Let\u2019s see what happens to Dr. Faucipic.twitter.com/K8SD9zpASb
Trump-endorsed AZ gov. candidate @KariLake\u00a0spews dangerous rhetoric listing off who she wants to lock up:\n\n"I want to lock somebody down, and it's that liar Dr.Fauci" and "anybody who was involved in that corrupt shady, shoddy election of 2020. Lock them up."pic.twitter.com/GkxsRys6Ef
— The Republican Accountability Project (@The Republican Accountability Project)
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