Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in the final days of her campaign
The vice president made an unannounced detour to New York City to appear on 'SNL,' taking a brief reprieve from the battleground states where she has been concentrating her final campaigning.
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Live from New York, it’s Vice President Kamala Harris.
After a day stumping for votes in North Carolina and Georgia, Harris made a quick stop in New York City for a cameo on Saturday Night Live.
For just over two minutes, and to sustained applause from the studio audience, Harris played herself as the mirror image of actress and comedian Maya Rudolph playing Harris, backstage somewhere in Philadelphia on the final day of her presidential campaign against former President Donald Trump.
“I’m just here to remind you, you got this,” Harris, wearing a dark suit and her trademark pearl necklace and American flag lapel pin, said to an identically dressed Rudolph. “Because you can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors.”
A chuckling Rudolph responded: “I see what you did there, like to a garbage truck,” apparently referring to Trump’s difficulty opening a door to a garbage truck he rode in earlier in the week in Wisconsin after President Joe Biden made a comment referring to Trump supporters as “garbage.” That was in reference to a comedian at a Trump rally last weekend in Madison Square Garden who described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
The SNL skit, part of the show’s cold open, continued with Harris and Rudolph, holding hands through the mirror and engaged in a pep talk of sorts with numerous plays on “Kamala.” Rudolph talked about the American people wanting to “stop the chaos,” to which Harris responded: “And end the dram-ala.” To laughter from the audience, they ultimately concluded, in sync, “Keep calm-ala, and carry on-ala.”
The bit concluded with a not-so-subtle nod to the critical role the swing state of Pennsylvania will play in determining who wins Tuesday’s election. Standing next to Harris, Rudolph says: “I’m going to vote for us,” to which Harris replies, “Great. Any chance you are registered in Pennsylvania?”
“Nope, I am not,” Rudolph says, as both California women smile into the camera and belt out in unison: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night.”
Word of Harris’ possible appearance on SNL was first reported by CNN and other news outlets a few hours before its 11:29 p.m. start. It was a high-profile detour on her way to scheduled campaign events in Detroit on Sunday before Harris returns to Pennsylvania on Monday, capping her visit to the commonwealth with an election eve rally in front of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
It was not known whether Saturday Night Live had invited Trump to appear. Asked by reporters, Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said: “Probably not. I don’t know,” NBC News reported.
The long-running NBC institution is in the middle of its 50th season, one that has featured plenty of political commentary, including multiple appearances by Rudolph portraying Harris.
Trump, last appeared on SNL on Nov. 8, 2015, one year before he was elected the 45th president over Democrat Hillary Clinton. During the show’s opening monologue, he described himself as “a nice guy” who doesn’t “hold grudges” and said he knows “how to take a joke.”
Staff writer Vinny Vella contributed to this article.