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At the tail end of an arduous, hotly contested presidential election campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris managed to have the last laugh. On “Saturday Night Live,” that is.
Appearing in the episode’s cold open as the mirror image of Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee reassured herself: “You can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors.”
The sketch, which focused on dueling rallies by Harris and former President Trump (James Austin Johnson), offered a comic compendium of recent events from the trail, with references to Trump’s appearance riding in a garbage truck and President Biden’s tendency to go off script in front of reporters.
After conferring with Biden (Dana Carvey), running mate Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan) and husband Doug Emhoff (Andy Samberg) backstage, the vice president asked for a moment alone. “I wish I could talk to someone who’s been in my shoes,” Rudolph’s character said, before turning to her reflection in the vanity. The real Harris, who emerged to an extended ovation from the live studio audience, replied in kind: “You and me both, sista.”
In the exchange with Rudolph, Harris also promised to “end the dramala” of the campaign and “keep calm-ala and carry on-ala.”
Coming out from behind the mirror to stand next to Rudolph — where she received yet another round of cheers from the audience — Harris made one more joke, asking her counterpart if she’s registered in the swing state of Pennsylvania, before the pair delivered the show’s most famous line in unison: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
Later in the episode, which was hosted by comedian John Mulaney and featured musical guest Chappell Roan, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate, provided the second political cameo of the night. Kaine, poking fun at his lack of memorability on a game show called “What’s My Name?” stumped contestants who were challenged to identify him — just eight years after he was involved in another “most important election in American history.”
With her surprise visit Saturday to New York’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Harris joined a roster of White House hopefuls who have appeared on the long-running sketch show, including Trump, Clinton and Barack Obama.
In a statement posted to social media in the lead-up to Saturday’s episode, Brendan Carr, a Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, criticized Harris’ appearance as a “clear and blatant effort to evade” the commission’s equal-time rule, which provides for political candidates to receive equivalent opportunities on broadcast networks. A source with knowledge of the network’s practices said NBC will comply with any regulatory obligations.
News of Harris’ guest spot broke shortly before 5 p.m. Pacific time when Harris added an unannounced stop to her schedule, which was reportedly announced to the press pool while in flight on Air Force Two. She had previously been expected to travel between campaign events in North Carolina and Michigan.