Dana Carvey Opens Up About 'Delicate' SNL Portrayal of Biden

Dana Carvey, one of several Saturday Night Live cast members who portrayed Joe Biden over the years, says it was "delicate" doing an impression of America's oldest president last year. In a recent episode of his Fly on the Wall podcast, Carvey, who turned 70 last month, was asked by Modern Family star Julie Bowen if he has regrets about the impression "now that you know that Biden is severely diminished," USA Today reports.

• "I knew that he was compromised mentally," Carvey said. "I mean, it was obvious. But it was a delicate thing in the comedy world. A lot of people did not want to do anything that would ding him in an awkward way."

• "If I can make Biden funny to everybody, then I am where I want to be," Carvey said. "And to make it funny, it had to be recognizable. And so there were certain things I did not include in my package."
• Podcast co-host David Spade said Biden was "fair game" for comedy because he was president at the time, People reports.
• Carvey played Biden during the 2024 election cycle. In earlier years, he was played by cast members including Jason Sudeikis and Mikey Day.
• In a previous podcast episode, Carvey said Lorne Michaels asked him to play Biden before he dropped out of the White House race, Rolling Stone reports. "Lorne was like a dog with a bone," Carvey said. "He's still like, 'You'll come out. Maybe you'll appear as a ghost or something.' He just wanted me to come out anyway. So then I came out."
• Elon Musk was not amused when Carvey played him in a post-election Saturday Night Live cold open. In later episodes, Musk was played by Mike Myers, Carvey's Wayne's World co-star.