"The stand-up comedian delivered an inexplicable 'both sides' bit about Biden and Trump just three days before the 2020 election," said Matt Wilstein, calling his comments "a major miss" in an otherwise solid monologue. "On November 3rd there is an elderly man contest," Mulaney said. "So there’s two elderly men and you’re supposed to pick your favorite of the elderly men,” he continued. “You can put it in the mail or you can go and write down which elderly man you like and we’ll add them all up. Then we might have the same elderly man or we might have a new elderly man. But just rest assured, no matter what happens, nothing much will change in the United States. The rich will continue to prosper while the poor languish. Families will be upended by mental illness and drug addiction. Jane Lynch will continue to book lots of projects.” As Wilstein notes, "those three examples may be broadly true, but for Mulaney to tell the millions of people watching SNL three days before the election that there is essentially no difference between Donald Trump and Joe Biden can only be described as deeply irresponsible." Wilstein points out that Mulaney did urge viewers to vote. "You’ve got to vote," he said. "Vote as many times as you can, fill in every circle, every dot they have, fill them in."
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John Mulaney is on the fast track to legendary SNL host status: "Back for his fourth hosting gig in three seasons (his second in 2020), Mulaney brings so much to the table that it’s just good sense to have him on as often as he likes," says Dennis Perkins. "As a successful former SNL writer, he knows the show, what it needs and what its rhythms are. His monologues are uniformly excellent, Mulaney’s knowing show-biz delivery seemingly birthed with from the Studio 8H walls. He’s a gamer for everything from lowbrow yucks to conceptual pieces, to the now-requisite musical theater number. And, (Saturday night), add 'expertly goofing around with Kate McKinnon and some puppets' to his resume. There’s a palpable comfort level to any Mulaney episode—both from the cast and the audience—that, come what may, we’re going to get a good, funny, professional experience out of the deal. And Saturday Night Live Season 46 needs some confidence. It’s impossible that a cast this unwieldy would gel into a unit by this early point, even if, as again tonight, some key players have the night entirely off. Building sketches around Mulaney’s persona—self-aware but never cloying or smirky—imbues the sketches with a strong central identity."