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Bob Dole was a great sport about Norm Macdonald‘s impression of the Republican senator and presidential candidate on Saturday Night Live. In fact, the politician once joined in on the fun.
Dole died Sunday. He was 98.
During his tenure on SNL, one of the late Macdonald‘s classic (and perhaps best) impressions was of Dole, who he played as a no-nonsense blowhard, always speaking in the third person.
Proving he could take the jabs, Dole once joined Macdonald on SNL as the comic was in the middle of a cold opening sketch poking fun at him. Macdonald broke character and asked the senator if he could keep running for president to help Macdonald’s acting career.
“It would help keep you on the front pages,” Macdonald said to Dole of the request, to which the senator replied, “Believe me, Norm. Running for president doesn’t always keep you in the front pages — unless you take a dive off the podium.”
Dole was referring to the incident in Sept 1996 when he fell off the stage during a rally. SNL had a field day with the moment. “Thanks for noticing here at Saturday Night Live,” Dole quipped of the falling gags. “I appreciated it.” A laughing Macdonald replied, “I don’t write a lot of this stuff.”
When Macdonald died of cancer in September, Dole said via Twitter, “Norm @normmacdonald was a great talent, and I loved laughing with him on SNL. *Bob Dole* will miss Norm Macdonald.”
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