‘SNL’ Cold Open: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Gets a ‘Gins-Burn’
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic appointment as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court was the focus of Saturday Night Live’s cold open.
In the Oval Office, Jackson (played by Ego Nwodim) and President Biden (played by James Austin Jackson) recreated the photos of them watching the Senate’s confirmation vote earlier this week. “I promised to put a Black woman on the court, and that is what I did. So that is one campaign promise down and only 74 to go,” Biden said.
Jackson’s response: “I was happy to do my part. I’ve worked twice as hard as a white man my entire life and then spent an entire week listening to Ted Cruz call me a pedophile.”
The sketch imagined what might have gone on in the room during this momentous day, with Jackson receiving wisdom from prominent Americans of the past. Her first visitation? Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Kate McKinnon returned with fists in the air, the frilly collar, and digs at Ted Cruz — all part of her delightfully brusque portrait of RBG. Her advice for Jackson? “Always label your lunches.” Because justices have “sticky fingers.”
“Look, I know your confirmation process put you through the wringer, but in the end, people do the right thing. And you know, I was confirmed in the Senate 96 to 3, so what was your vote?”
“53 to 47,” Jackson (Nwodim) said. “Yeah, a lot of them walked out and one guy kept asking me if babies are racist.”
“Well, it was Ted Cruz, so I bet the book was called, Goodnight Cancun — and that’s a Gins-burn.”
Justice Jackson was then visited by other famous Black Americans Harriet Tubman (Punkie Johnson), Jackie Robinson (Chris Redd), and Justice Thurgood Marshall (Kenan Thompson), who became the first Black Supreme Court justice in 1967.
“So what advice for me do you have as a person of color on the Supreme Court?” Jackson asked Marshall.
“Democracy can be slow and messy. It stumbles, but over time, it moves forward. I mean, I was the first Black Supreme Court justice, so you must be what, the 10th, the 20th?”
“Nope,” Jackson replied. “Just the third.”
RBG passes on some wisdom to Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pic.twitter.com/PCwbIzc2Of
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) April 10, 2022
