“Saturday Night Live” mocked President Biden in its first show of the new year for his handling of the surge of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
“Stop seeing Spider-Man,” James Austin Johnson, who portrays Biden on the skit comedy show, said during its cold opening.
“Think about it, when did Spider-Man come out? December 17,” he added. “When did every single person get omicron? The week after December 17. Stop seeing Spider-Man!”
“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” broke box office records when it was released last month, CNN reported.
Coronavirus infections have skyrocketed in recent weeks, with public health experts pinning the surge on the highly contagious omicron variant. Most omicron patients have reported less-severe symptoms than patients infected with previous variants of the virus.
The Biden administration has been criticized during the surge for a lack of available testing nationwide, and the Supreme Court last week struck down the administration’s vaccine mandate for large employers.
Biden’s favorability, meanwhile, is polling at record low levels.
One of the “SNL” cast members playing a reporter asked the president during the skit: “Alright, well then what about other problems facing America like inflation?
“Spider-Man,” he replied.