Alec Baldwin has sparked outrage by appearing on Saturday Night Live as Robert F Kennedy Jr.
The actor starred in a cold open alongside James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump, Dana Carvey as Joe Biden and Sarah Sherman as Matt Gaetz.
The skit saw Baldwin crack jokes about Kennedy’s recent nomination as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services.
‘Americans need someone to teach them how to be healthy, someone like me, a 70-year-old man with movie star looks and a worm in his brain,’ Baldwin said, ribbing Kennedy’s previous claims doctors found a dead, parasitic worm in his head.
However, many viewers were left unimpressed by the cameo, saying it was inappropriate given Baldwin has only just managed to shake a manslaughter charge over the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust.
‘They actually brought that dead beat Alec Baldwin back?? SNL just needs to call it quits already,’ one person wrote.
‘I don’t know who keeps wanting more Alec Baldwin on SNL but it’s not me.’
Baldwin also mocked Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism, altering his voice to mimic’s Kennedy’s distinctive tones which are the result of a condition called spasmodic dysphonia.
Alec Baldwin (far right) has sparked outrage by appearing on SNL as Robert F Kennedy Jr. complete with a ‘raspy’ voice
‘I care deeply about a woman’s right to choose, to choose to give her child Polio,’ Baldwin said.
The decision to emulate Kennedy’s condition also did not go over well with viewers.
‘Alec Baldwin’s pathetic attempt at mocking RFK Jr. on SNL is the laziest, most unoriginal “comedy” ever. It’s just a cheap shot at a real patriot. SNL is dead, and Baldwin is the reason why!’ one viewer fumed on X.
‘Lousiest and least funny damn thing you ever saw. Just lousy,’ another added.
The sketch went on to poke fun at Kennedy’s admission he was involved in the discovery of a bear found in Central Park.
An investigation by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) concluded that the six-month-old bear was run over and killed by a vehicle, but they could not figure out how it ended up in the park – until Kennedy admitted he was there when the bear died and claimed to be was responsible for it being located.
‘I just wish people would take my appointment more seriously. Alright I gotta go, I got a dead dolphin in my car, I think I might saw it in half and dump it in Central Park,’ Baldwin joked.
Baldwin’s appearance comes just months after a judge dismissed the manslaughter charge against him over Hutchins’ death in 2021.
The skit saw Baldwin joke about Kennedy’s recent appointment as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services
The actor starred in a cold open alongside James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump and Dana Carvey as Joe Biden
The actor was holding a gun when it discharged killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
But a judge ruled that crucial evidence which may have been beneficial to the defense was withheld.
Kennedy’s new role was announced by Trump earlier this week.
His appointment has prompted consternation from some in the medical field due to his outlandish health claims over the years.
They include that the parasitic worm worm ‘ate’ part of his brain, chemicals in water are making children question their gender identity and vaccines cause autism.
Experts fear his appointment, and the potential polices that could be implemented, could have consequences far beyond American shores, for instance with regards to vaccination rates.
The former presidential hopeful set up an influential anti-vaccination group, Children’s Health Defense.
He has previously stated that no jab is ‘effective’ and suggested childhood vaccines could be driving rising autism rates.
He also wrongly claimed Covid vaccines have killed more people than all jabs ‘over the past 30 years’ in what experts called an ‘inaccurate representation of data’.
Kennedy has also previously floated the idea that schools with vaccine requirements for attendance in the US should be defunded.
One of the most eye-catching and recent health claims spread by Kennedy is that a parasitic worm ‘ate’ part of his brain.
The wild declaration was uncovered in his divorce proceeding documents, following his split with Mary Richardson in 2012.
The documents noted that, in 2010, Kennedy’s medics were worried about a dark spot that showed up on a brain scan — suspecting it may be a tumor.
Kennedy complained of suffering brain fog and memory loss at the time. But further scans found the spot was the result of a parasitic infection.
The New York Times, which uncovered the documents, said Kennedy wrote his mental issues ‘were caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died’.
It is unclear how Kennedy was infected with the worm in the first place, though he suspects he contracted it while travelling in South Asia.
