Just a man and his box of chocolates. Kate McKinnon nailed her impression of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions as Forrest Gump on the Saturday, March 4, episode of Saturday Night Live during the show’s cold open.
The scene opened with a white feather floating across the screen à la the iconic image from the 1994 classic, revealing Sessions (McKinnon) as the titular character in a tan suit with a briefcase on his lap.
“Hello. My name’s Jeff. Jeff Sessions. Would you like a chocolate?” he asked his bench mate, played by a pink sweater–wearing Leslie Jones. When Jones’ character declined, the faux Sessions eagerly dug into the box and started to talk.
“I’m the attorney general of the whole United States,” he said as Jones’ character nodded politely. “I got to meet the president and everything. He shook my hand like this. [mimes awkward struggle] Being in the government is so fun. Have you ever been in it?”
McKinnon as Sessions then continued on a rambling monologue about working at the White House. “You meet so many nice people like this,” he said, pulling out a now-infamous photo of Kellyanne Conway kneeling on a couch in the Oval Office. “This is my best good friend Kellyanne. She ain’t got no legs.… We’re about as close as peas and carrots. She’s the best talker you ever heard. They say she could sell stink to the skunk. But they don’t let her talk no more.”
The rest of the skit involved a whole host of characters, including passersby played by Kyle Mooney and Aidy Bryant, as well as a brief cameo by Vladimir Putin (Beck Bennett) and, finally, host Octavia Spencer in character as Minny Jackson from The Help.
“My name’s Minny. You don’t know me, I’m from a different movie,” she introduced herself. “And I have a pie that I baked especially for you. Enjoy.”
Watch the clip above to see how McKinnon’s Sessions reacted to the surprise gift (with a special ingredient, of course)!
