‘Saturday Night Live’ Returns With a New President Biden

It’s a new season at “Saturday Night Live,” which means new cast members — and, surprisingly, a new performer playing President Biden in his first episode on the show.

You may recall, “S.N.L.” did not have the easiest time finding a Biden impersonator last season: it relied on guest star Jim Carrey to fill that role during the 2020 presidential election, but to no great effect, and Carrey announced he was leaving the show after a planned six weeks.

The mantle was then passed to cast member Alex Moffat, who appeared as Biden only intermittently during the rest of the season, prompting some criticism that “S.N.L.” was pulling its punches on the 46th president.

Enter new cast member James Austin Johnson, a comedian whose hiring as an “S.N.L.” featured player was announced this past Monday, and who was perhaps better known for viral videos in which he impersonated former president Donald J. Trump.

Most “S.N.L.” rookies can expect, at best, a single line in their debut appearances. But there was Johnson, front and center in the show’s cold open this weekend, playing President Biden as he caught up with the nation on recent events and tried to get Democrats to come to an agreement on his domestic agenda.

“What’s cooking?” Johnson asked. “What’s good? How was everybody’s summer? Mine was bad. Not Cuomo bad but definitely not Afghanistan good.”

Johnson continued, “Everyone keeps razzing me about that drone strike. But on the bright side, I went the entire summer without falling down the stairs once.”

He added, “And hey, Broadway’s back. That’s exciting, right? So is the Taliban. So, win some, lose some.”

The opening sketch also shone a spotlight on some “S.N.L.” veterans who were weren’t sure if they’d return to the show this year, including Cecily Strong, who appeared as Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

“What do I want from this bill?” Strong asked. “I’ll never tell. ‘Cause I didn’t come to Congress to make friends. And so far, mission accomplished.”

Aidy Bryant, another cast member whose return to the show was uncertain, appeared as Senator Joe Manchin: “I’m a Democrat from West Virginia,” she said. “If I vote for electric cars, they’re going to kill me.”

Ego Nwodim played Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota (“Thank you, Joe, for not calling me Kamala”) and Melissa Villaseñor played New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who identified herself as “the Cruella of the Met Gala.”

Villaseñor said, “I wore a dress that said ‘Tax the Rich.’ Then spent all night partying with the rich. Oops.”

Pete Davidson was back as New York’s ex-Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, attempting to make peace within the Democratic Party: “We’re like one big Italian family,” Davidson said. “And you know what Italians like to do? Hug, and kiss and run their fingers up each other’s backs.”

And for good measure, Moffat turned up in this sketch, too — this time in his…