Comedian John Mulaney targeted U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with a blistering impression and direct insults during his opening monologue on Saturday Night Live on Nov. 14, 2026, marking his seventh time hosting the NBC sketch comedy show.
He added that it is fun when he hosts because it is like there is no host.
Mulaney delivered a rough, scratchy-voiced impression of Kennedy early in his stand-up set. He lampooned the official’s background and policies at Studio 8H, according to Variety.
“My father was a good man and I’m a lousy man but I have same name,” Mulaney said in his Kennedy impression, as reported by Variety. “Am I good if I have same name as father? No, please, let me be in charge of your bones and your tummy.”
Mulaney continued the impression by saying, “Please, allow me to control how your blood feels in your butt and everywhere. Stop the science … Robitussin when taken during menstruation will cause telekinesis. This is clear from the pamphlets in my rental car.” Transitioning back into his own voice, Mulaney continued to hammer Kennedy by saying that “no one likes that guy anymore”, including former supporters.
“I had right-wing friends, they used to be down with him. No one likes him,” Mulaney said about Kennedy, adding that he calls him Bobby. “You shouldn’t be part of the government if I’ve known you for over a decade.”
The comic slammed Kennedy’s record on public health, specifically pointing to rising public concern over vaccine skepticism and outbreaks. The U.S. is currently facing its worst year for measles since 1991, with health experts and New York officials attributing the trend to anti-vaccination rhetoric, The Daily Beast reported.
“You dumbass,” Mulaney said, according to Variety. “Your thing can’t be the measles!” He added that giving people the measles cannot be his project.
Mulaney Recalls Kennedy's Environmental Law Career
Mulaney brought a personal angle to the roast by noting that he has known the politician for over a decade. He explained that their acquaintance began when he performed at charity benefits for Riverkeeper, an environmental organization that works to keep the Hudson River clean.
“He would just join cases late if they were about to be successful,” Mulaney said of Kennedy’s former career as an environmental lawyer, as noted by Variety. “He’d be like, ‘Are you about to win? I’m part of this too.’”
Mulaney ripped into Kennedy for an environmental job he held from the 1980s to the mid-2010s with the organization, stating that the Riverkeepers were in charge of keeping the Hudson River in New York City clean. “His old job was keeping the Hudson River, whose native fish is tied-off used condom, clean. Now he’s in charge of all of our tummies,” Mulaney said.
Upon listening to the voicemail, Mulaney exclaimed, “I got butt-dialed by the mom from ‘Goonies’!” USA Today said that Mulaney previously mocked Kennedy during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in May as part of the Netflix Is a Joke festival.
Additional Sketch Highlights
Beyond the opening monologue, the Nov. 14 episode featured musical guest Phoebe Bridgers in her second appearance on the show, Deadline reported. Mulaney also participated in several pre-taped and live sketches throughout the night.
Cast members including Bowen Yang, Ashley Padilla, and Kenan Thompson joined Mulaney in sketches ranging from a news report of a plane crash to a musical number about horse-drawn carriages, according to Deadline and Showbiz411. “Unfortunately, some bees swarmed the plane, Sully style,” Mulaney claimed, while Ashley Padilla’s reporter character said that they looked like geese, and Marcello Hernandez played a pilot who got penile enlargement surgery.
Another sketch featured a fake pharmaceutical commercial for “Sister,” relying on Mulaney, Andrew Dismukes and Kenan Thompson to have their sisters take care of their sick parents.
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