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SNL’s Colin Jost thinks Larry David has helped Bernie Sanders

By Hector Cruz

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Colin Jost explains to Seth Meyers how Larry David’s SNL impersonation has helped Bernie Sanders’ campaign on Late Night

SNL cast member Colin Jost stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers Thursday night to help promote this weekend’s show centered around Larry David, who is returning to the sketch comedy series as host for the first time after making several appearances this season as Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

The Seinfeld co-creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm star’s impersonation of Sanders has made so much of an impact that Jost claims that it has helped the self-described Democratic Socialist’s campaign for president.

“I think he’s helped Bernie,” the ‘Weekend Update’ co-anchor and former head writer said of David to host Seth Meyers. “Larry’s so likable, you know, that it makes — you know, in a crazy, curmudgeon way — that he makes Bernie… you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, Bernie Sanders. I’ve always liked Bernie. I liked him in Curbed. He was great.'”

The comedian compared the role to Tina Fey’s take on Sarah Palin where they each had the “exact right look” for the part.

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“For Larry David, I think at the time [SNL creator] Lorne [Michaels] called him about doing it, when Larry picked up the phone, he was like, ‘So, we doing this?’ No explanation needed,” Jost explained.

He also reminded viewers that David was a writer on SNL for a brief time back in the mid-1980s, which is where he met future Seinfeld co-star Julia Louis Dreyfuss, who was a cast member on the show at the time.

Meyers moved on to ask Jost about his thoughts on Donald Trump placing second in Iowa. He responded by admitting that he wouldn’t call him a loser just yet because he’s still leading in the polls almost everywhere else, and the Iowa caucuses haven’t been a great a predictor for who gets the Republican nomination.

“It may have just proven that he’s not Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, which might ultimately be a good thing,” said Jost, referencing the last two GOP contenders to win in the Hawkeye State.

Next: The Daily Show mocks Bernie Sanders' Simon & Garfunkel ad

Following this week’s Democratic debate and town hall where Sanders joked that he was in fact Larry David, the comedian was sure to portray the politician in at last one sketch. Now comes word that the two will be seen alongside each other for the very first time on this week’s episode of SNL, disproving the idea that they’re actually the same person. The New York Times reports that Sanders is interrupting his campaign in New Hampshire to make a cameo appearance on the show just a few days before the next primary.

He will the third candidate to appear on SNL next to their doppelgangers this season following Sanders’ rival Hillary Clinton’s October appearance in a sketch with her impersonator Kate McKinnon where she played a bartender named Val. Trump hosted an entire episode in November, which featured David loudly heckling the Republican hopeful, labeling him a racist during the monologue in a rehearsed bit.

Watch David and Sanders on this week’s episode of SNL with musical guest the 1975 at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.

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