Of the real debate between the two candidates and the one parodied by
Saturday Night Live,
which was the craziest?
The viewers will judge.
Tuesday in Cleveland in Ohio, Donald Trump and Joe Biden had slashed during the traditional confrontation between the champion of the Democrats and that of the Republicans.
The meeting had quickly turned into a rat race even more painful for viewers than for the candidates.
On Saturday, Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey made up themselves, one as a Republican candidate, the other as his Democratic opponent, for the purposes of a sketch broadcast during the first episode of the new season of the NBC show.
The two actors gave a glimpse of how they saw the debate.
Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin), who has never ceased to denigrate his opponent, interrupting him all the time, this time had to compose with a magic remote control allowing Joe Biden (Jim Carrey) to put him on pause as he pleases.
Before the "debate", the former vice-president took care to measure the distance that separates him from Trump, who recently tested positive for Covid-19.
If Donald Trump is represented as a rude man, a liar and a faker,
SNL's
Joe Biden
makes him look like an old man with memory problems, having to take care to stay calm to protect his heart.
A few passages would make both camps laugh heartily if the real American countryside were not so tense and even violent.
“What we need in this country is law and order.
If someone breaks the rules, they have to face the consequences without exceptions,
”says Trump.
“What can you tell us about your taxes,”
asks the moderator of the debate.
“They must be exceptions,”
Baldwin retorts in an allusion to the
New York Times
investigation
which concluded that the US president had paid only a few hundred dollars to the treasury since his election in 2016.
Jim Carrey's Joe Biden, clumsy and old-fashioned, is completely eclipsed by his running mate Kamala Harris, played by Maya Rudolph.
The actress, who already has the role of an irresistible Beyoncé to her credit, has become almost as popular as the candidate for vice-presidency in her role as a powerful woman with slogans straight out of com agencies.
But in the end, the parody ends up suffering from the same flaws as the original debate.
The two candidates each put on their show without a dialogue taking place, the succession of slogans becoming a succession of sketches.
The confrontation extends in length to the point of boring and ignores many of the subjects which animate the campaign, so harsh and even violent it is.
While three debates are still scheduled (including one between the vice presidential candidates) before the election on November 3, many doubt they can take place, as the atmosphere is at daggers drawn between Trump and Biden.
And the writers of SNL would surely welcome with relief not to have to put the cover back.