“I don’t laugh that much, do I?”
“Hmm, just a little.”
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has stepped away from the campaign to make a surprise appearance on the television variety show “Saturday Night Live” and boost her reputation as a “jovial warrior.”
Harris played herself in the mirror opposite actor Maya Rudolph, who first played her on the show in 2019 and reprized the role this season.
The pair, dressed identically in black suits and pearls, changed Harris’ first name and said Americans wanted to end the “drama” in politics with “cool new stepmother Ara.”
“Saturday Night Live,” filmed in New York and in its 50th season, is a show where politicians can show viewers and voters that they can laugh at themselves for their own arrogance. It has become my favorite place. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump have all appeared in past episodes.
In this week’s “cold open,” Harris’ character Rudolph prepares to give a speech in Philadelphia, meeting vice presidential candidates Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan), Joe Biden (Dana Carvey) and her husband Doug Emhoff. (Andy Samberg) was depicted having a conversation with him.
And Rudolph, left alone with his thoughts, said: You know, a black South Asian woman, preferably from the Bay Area, running for president. ”
She turned to what looked like a makeup mirror and saw the real Kamala Harris sitting across from her. The studio audience erupted into wild cheers, and the two women laughed for about half an hour.
Harris folded his hands and said, “You and me, sis.”
Rudolph said, “It’s nice to meet you, Kamala.”
Harris replied: “Nice to meet you, Kamala, I’m just here to remind you. You understand this, because you can do what the other person can’t do. You open the door. You can.”
This was in reference to President Trump’s recent stunt in which he appeared to reach into the door of a garbage truck and remove it. “I see what you did there,” Rudolph said. “It’s like a garbage truck, right?”
Then the actor burst out laughing. Harris asked, “I don’t laugh that much, do I?”
It was a near-repetition of a line from 2008, when Democratic presidential primary candidate Hillary Clinton appeared next to Amy Poehler and played her in an exaggerated voice. The real Clinton wondered, “Do I really laugh that much?”
Then Rudolph reached out and took Harris’ hand and gave him encouragement. “Now, Kamala, please accept my palm ala. The American people want the chaos to stop…”
Harris concluded, “And the drama is over.”
Rudolph: “With my lovely new stepmother. Let’s get back into our pajamas and watch a romantic comedy.”
Harris: “Like Legally Blonde Ara.”
Rudolph: “And let’s start decorating for Christmas, fa-la-la-la-la. I mean, what do we always say?”
Then they both said in unison: “Keep calm and keep going on a la.”
Rudolph added: “We know each other so well that we say each other’s words…”
They said in unison, “We believe in the promise of America.”
Then Rudolph and Harris stood together. “We’re going to vote for you,” Rudolph said.
Harris replied: Is it possible that it is registered in Pennsylvania? ” – referring to swing states that will be pivotal in Tuesday’s election.
Rudolph admitted, “No, it’s not.”
Mr. Harris thought so. “Well, it’s worth a try.”
Then, together they delivered the show’s defining line: “And we’re broadcasting live from New York, Saturday night!”
Harris made her first appearance on the show. “It was fun,” she told reporters on the tarmac before flying to Detroit, Michigan, in the battleground state.
On Saturday’s episode, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate, also performed a skit, but the contestants couldn’t remember who Kaine was. Musical guest Chapel Lawn announced she would vote for Harris in September.
Rudolph’s performance won critical acclaim, including from Harris himself. “Maya Rudolph, I mean, she’s very good,” the vice president said on ABC’s The View last month. “She had suits, jewelry, everything!”
Harris follows a long line of politicians trying to show the bright side on Saturday Night Live, which airs on the NBC network. The first sitting president to participate was Republican Gerald Ford, who debuted in a cold open in April 1976.
In 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama appeared with Poehler as a Clinton impersonator, and in November 1996, Republican Bob Dole appeared on the show just 11 days after losing that year’s election to Bill Clinton. Appeared.
In 2008, Tina Fey made a memorable impression on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, joking that she could “see Russia from my house.” Palin herself appeared on the show weeks before the election.
Trump hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 2015, drawing protesters outside the studio and mocking his tendency to exaggerate and avoid policy details. Also appeared in 2004.
