Larry David Has Mastered The Bernie Sanders Act

Live from New York… it's Bernie Sanders! JK, it's actually Larry David — again. To everyone's delight, David played Sen. Sanders on Saturday Night Live on (you guessed it) Saturday night — and in case you weren't convinced before, he proved once and for all that he's the master of the Sanders impression.

Before Donald Trump even got a chance to steal the show, David won the crowd (and at least one member of the at-home audience) over with his ever-on-point impression of the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist candidate from Vermont. It helps, first and foremost, that David can pull off the Sanders look: He's got the white, wiry hair, and he wears the Sanders uniform of a black suit and a blue tie effortlessly. But, it's also the way that David expresses Sanders' mannerisms that wins us over: His voice sounds a little coarser, and he purses his lips while he awaits his next question.

Back in October, SNL unveiled David's Sanders impression in a skit about CNN's first Democratic debate. In the most recent sketch, David played Sanders during a spoof of Friday's Democratic forum with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, which took place in South Carolina. In particular, David spoke to Sanders' desire to improve infrastructure and his need for his supporters' "vacuum pennies."

David nailed the Sanders impression from the moment he stepped onto the SNL stage on Saturday. While Cecily Strong, who played Maddow, tried to introduce the fictional Sanders, David walked out waving his hands, saying, "I don't need no fancy introduction. I'm not Elvis Presley. Let's just get on with it." (It's safe to say the grammatical error even worked in his favor.)

After the introduction that didn't need to happen, David spoke to an issue Sanders has prioritized before: infrastructure. "We need to rebuild our nation's infrastructure," David said. "It's crumbling — that's why I no longer drive on bridges or through tunnels." Beyond this call to action, David painted a funny picture for how Sanders gets around despite this failing infrastructure:

Instead, I keep a kayak strapped to the top of my car. Whenever I get to a bridge, I park, abandon my car, and paddle to the other side. So if you ever see a soaking wet man pulling a kayak out of a river and screaming about bridges, give him a hand… because he's your next president.

David also threw in some jokes about Sanders' age — saying, for example, that his youngest grandson just turned 40. What really stole the sketch, though, was David's "vacuum pennies" call to action for Sanders' supporters. While other candidates accept millions from people like the Koch brothers, Sanders only wants coins, at least according to David. What's more, he only wants nickels and pennies — "the coins of the middle class." David encouraged anyone feeling the Bern to support Sanders by finding pennies around their house, namely in the vacuum, and pitch in to Sanders' campaign.

America, if you believe in Bernie, I need you to go home, open your closet, pull out your vacuum, dump it upside down, and send me all the pennies that fall out of it. That's right: I'm Bernie Sanders, and I want your vacuum pennies.

You heard the man — or rather, the guy who looks like/sounds like/does a great impression of the man: Grab your vacuum pennies to support your favorite candidate. And if Sanders is your favorite candidate, then this was the only segment of the show you were probably interested in. It's a good thing David did the part such justice.

Image: Saturday Night Live/NBC