Going in for the kill.
“SNL” star Bowen Yang jokingly called Vice President JD Vance a “pope killer” on Thursday’s episode of “The View,” sending Whoopi Goldberg and her fellow co-hosts into fits of laughter.
Yang, 34, appeared on the daytime show to promote his new movie, “The Wedding Banquet.”
The comedian’s remark about Vance, 40, alluded to the passing of Pope Francis, who died from a stroke Monday at the age of 88, only hours after meeting with the VP on Easter.
Yang’s roundtable chat on “The View” pivoted to Vance because Yang has portrayed the “Hillbilly Elegy” author on “SNL.”
Co-host Sara Haines asked Yang whether it was true that he didn’t want to play Vance on the show.
“I just thought there would be better people for it,” the “Fire Island” actor explained.
“It was my impostor syndrome. I was like, there are better people for this. I worked with an accent coach, I had to get it between Ohio and Appalachia with the accent. It’s hard, it’s very subtle!”
Goldberg praised Yang’s performance, saying, “It was funny as hell.”
Yang thanked the Oscar winner before adding with a laugh, “I mean, look, the guy’s a pope killer, OK?”
The panel and the audience burst out laughing.
Goldberg had the biggest reaction among the “View” women, leaning forward on the table as she attempted to hide her face from cameras. The “Ghost” star then looked up only briefly to turn her body away from the audience, again trying to conceal her reaction.
“There’s our new headline!” Haines chimed in.
After regaining her composure, Goldberg returned to face the panel and exclaimed, “Somebody had to say it!”
Yang repeated Goldberg: “Someone had to say it!”
Joy Behar then offered, “He doesn’t mean it literally, he’s talking — spiritually.”
Seemingly, in an effort to diffuse the situation, Sunny Hostin added, “It’s just comedy!” The legal expert was still laughing when she brought the conversation back to Yang’s new movie.
“OK, I’m gonna get it together,” she chuckled.
Goldberg was among the many celebrities who mourned Pope Francis’ death after the news broke early Monday morning.
“He was the closest in a long time that seemed to remember that Christ’s love enveloped believer and none believer,” she wrote on Instagram. “He felt more like Pope John the 23rd who made belief real. Sail on Pope Frances with your love of humanity & Laughter.”
Yang wasn’t the only one to joke about the pope passing so soon after meeting with Vance. TikTok was flooded with videos this week that made a meme out of the situation.
Vance paid tribute to Pope Francis shortly after his death.
“My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” he wrote on X.
“I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul,” he wrote alongside a link to the sermon.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
