The Democratic candidate has struggled to replicate her overall poll lead over Bernie Sanders among young voters. Cue Kate McKinnon on a flowery swing …

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Hillary Clinton may be “the most qualified candidate in history”, but after her heavy defeat by Bernie Sanders in this week’s New Hampshire primary, the Democratic candidate for president now faces another problem: Saturday Night Live has noticed her struggles to attract young voters.

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SNL has been kind to Clinton, from Amy Poehler playing her as straight woman to Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin in 2008 – a series of sketches which helped immolate the Alaska governor’s hopes of becoming vice-president – to Kate McKinnon last year appearing in a well-received sketch in which Clinton herself played a bartender called Val, listening to her own considerable woes.

Recently, however, SNL has mirrored the unfolding Democratic campaign, giving a growing role to Sanders. Last week, Sanders himself appeared with Larry David, whose uncanny impression of the Vermont senator – as accurate as Fey’s of Palin, but much less damaging to the candidate – extended to a well-received episode of Bern Your Enthusiasm.

On Saturday, SNL’s cold open featured Clinton, as played by McKinnon, lamenting her struggle to keep the support of millennials. Such struggles have been borne out at the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“Hillary has every single thing I want in a president,” said one millennial in a group eating in a restaurant, prompting a chorus of: “She’s no Bernie!”

Cue lights, music and McKinnon descending to the stage on a flower-lined swing, singing Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me.

“I mean I like Hillary’s foreign policy experience but I love Bernie’s whole vibe,” said one millennial.

“I like when Bernie yells,” she added, as McKinnon-Clinton danced around the dining table, singing. “But not when Hillary does.”

“I feel safe with Hillary,” another said.

“Safe but cold,” said another.

Those lines and others in the sketch referenced recent controversy over comments by Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright, which respectively suggested young women supported Sanders because boys did, and seemed to say women should vote for Clinton on grounds of gender alone.

The SNL millennials disagreed with this.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Larry David’s uncanny Bernie Sanders on Saturday Night Live.

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McKinnon-Clinton then re-entered, still singing, through a mist of dry ice and sitting on a white grand piano. The pianist, her husband Bill (Darrell Hammond), said: “Like her for my sake.”

The sketch then moved from sociologically aware whimsy into heavy-hitting political analysis. Jeb Bush (Beck Bennett) was mentioned – and subsequently burst through a neighbouring table, singing the same song. The millennials dismissed him as a loser, unlike Clinton, who then reappeared from another table, playing an electric guitar.

“See you in the south,” she roared.

According to a CBS/YouGov poll released on Sunday, Clinton leads Sanders in South Carolina, where Democrats vote on 27 February, by 59% to 40%.