John Mulaney Takes Aim at RFK Jr. in SNL Monologue

John Mulaney made Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the target of his opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, the NBC sketch show that has run for decades.

Kennedy is the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, the cabinet department that oversees the country's public health agencies. According to Variety, Mulaney's jokes covered two main subjects. He mocked Kennedy's vaccine skepticism, meaning his public doubts about vaccines. He also teased Kennedy's earlier career as an environmental lawyer.

The comedian had a personal link to his subject. He said he first met Kennedy while performing comedy at fundraisers for Kennedy's Riverkeepers organization, a group focused on protecting rivers and waterways. That history gave the bit a friendly, old-acquaintance tone rather than a cold one.

For anyone unfamiliar with the format, a monologue is the comedy segment that opens the show. The performer speaks straight to the audience and usually covers the week's biggest news, which is why politicians and public figures often end up in the jokes. Those opening minutes set the tone for the sketches that follow.

Mulaney is a regular presence on the show's stage, and his monologue drew on current events in the same way. The jokes landed on a public official who is closely followed, so the segment reached a wide audience almost as soon as it aired.

Kennedy's role at the top of the health department means his positions on vaccines are regularly debated, in news coverage and on television alike. Comedy has long been one of the ways that debate reaches people who don't follow policy news closely.