Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in recent days. the electionin which she plays herself as the mirror-image doppelgänger of Maya Rudolph’s version of her.
The candidate’s first lines spoken as she sat across from Rudolph were drowned out by cheers from the audience.
“It’s nice to see you Kamala,” Harris said to Rudolph. “And I’m just here to remind you that you have this.”
At the same time, the two said that supporters must “keep Kamala and carry on,” declared that they share each other’s “faith in the promise of America,” and delivered the signature “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
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During their roughly two-minute conversation, Harris also referred to her opponent, former President Donald Trump, for a stunt Wednesday on the tarmac of an airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Trump briefly struggled to open the door of a garbage truck before climbing inside.
The stunt was in response to comments made by President Biden on Tuesday in which he appeared to call Trump supporters “trash” during a video call with Latino activists. The White House has denied that this was Mr. Biden’s intention.
“It’s nice to see you, Kamala, and I’m just here to remind you that you have this because you can do something your opponent can’t,” Harris told Rudolph. “You can open doors.”
“I see what you did there,” Rudolph replied. “Just like a garbage truck, right?”
Harris made the surprise trip to New York City with the election approaching, taking a break from the battleground states where she furiously campaigned in favor of the iconic sketch comedy show, where she hoped to generate buzz and appeal to a national audience.
Harris arrived in New York on Air Force Two after an early evening campaign stop Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was supposed to fly to Detroit, but once in the air, aides said she would make an unscheduled stop and the plane landed at LaGuardia Airport.
Harris arrived at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, where SNL taps shortly after 8 p.m., leaving plenty of time for a quick rehearsal before the show airs live at 11:30 p.m. It’s the last SNL episode before Election Day on Tuesday.
The visit had not previously been announced, and an official familiar with Harris’ schedule only officially confirmed it to reporters traveling with the vice president just before the live broadcast began.
Rudolph first played Harris on the show in 2019 and has reprized her role this season, doing a spot-on impression of the vice president, calling herself “Momala” — a reference to the affectionate nickname her stepchildren gave her .
Rudolph opened the show’s season premiere with the line, “Well, well, well. Look who fell out of that coconut tree.” And she jokes about keeping President Biden in place.
Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, was once again played by former cast member Andy Samberg and Dana Carvey appeared as President Biden.
Rudolph’s performance has received critical and comedic praise, including from Harris himself.
“Maya Rudolph – I mean, she’s so good,” Harris said on ABC’s “The View” last month. “She had the whole thing, the suit, the jewelry, everything!”
Harris added that she was impressed by Rudolph’s “manners.”
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, expressed surprise that Harris would appear on SNL, given what he characterized as her unflattering portrayal on the show. Asked if Trump had been invited to appear, he said: “I don’t know. Probably not.”
Politicians nevertheless have a long history with SNL, including Trump, who hosted the show in 2015 — though it’s unusual to appear so close to Election Day.
Hillary Clinton entered the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries when she appeared alongside Amy Poehler, who played her on the show and was known for her trademark, exaggerated cackle. The real Clinton asked herself during her performance: “Am I really smiling like that?”
Harris repeated that phrase in response to Rudolph’s display of her laugh in Saturday’s episode.
Clinton returned in 2016, running against Trump in a race she ultimately lost.
The first sitting president to appear on SNL was Republican Gerald Ford, who did so less than a year after the show’s debut. Ford appeared in an April 1976 episode hosted by his press secretary, Ron Nessen, and declared the show’s famous opening retort: ”Live from New York, it’s Saturday night.”
Then-Senator Barack Obama of Illinois appeared alongside Poehler posing as Clinton in 2007, and Republican Bob Dole was on the show in November 1996 — just 11 days after losing that year’s election to Bill Clinton. Dole consoled Norm Macdonald, who played the Kansas senator.
Then there was Tina Fey’s 2008 impression of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin — and in particular her joke that “I can see Russia from my house.” It was so good that Fey ended up winning an Emmy and Palin himself appeared on the show in October, in the weeks before the election.
