Jimmy McMillan, debate-stealing New York gubernatorial candidate and sole member of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, said “Saturday Night Live’s” parody of him has guaranteed his victory on Nov. 2, New York magazine reported Monday.
“Election over. Jimmy gonna win it,” Mcmillan said. “That put me over the top. It’s over. This election is over.”
On Saturday’s “SNL,” cast member Kenan Thompson impersonated the black-gloved, fast-talking candidate during the “Weekend Update” segment.
“People ask, ‘if elected, how would you lower our rent?’ Simple: The rent is too damn high,” Thompson-as-McMillan said. “People got seven jobs, they’re working 36 hours a day, 12 days a week and they can’t afford a roof!”
He went on to claim that rent in Manhattan is $77,000 a month and “a house in Queens costs $17 million!”
It was reported last week by the New York Post that McMillan lives in an $800 a month rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn and has not had a rent increase in at least five years.
McMillan said the “SNL” parody was free publicity for his campaign. “I don’t have the money of [Republican candidate Carl] Paladino or [Democratic candidate] Andrew Cuomo,” he said.
He said the sketch got his message out to people who might not read newspapers or watch political TV programming. “Now they know who I am, and I look at it like that, they can treat me any way they want to treat me, any way to get the message out there.”
His message? “Rent is too damn high.”