“I don’t really laugh like that, do I?”
“Uhhhhh, a little bit.”
Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, broke from the campaign trial to embrace her reputation as a “joyful warrior” with a surprise appearance on the TV variety show Saturday Night Live.
Harris portrayed herself, appearing in a mirror opposite the actor Maya Rudolph, who first played her on the show in 2019 and has reprised the role this season.
Dressed identically in a black suit and pearls, the two traded variations on Harris’s first name, saying Americans want to “end the drama-la” in politics “with a cool new stepmom-ala”.
Filmed in New York and celebrating its 50th season, Saturday Night Live has become a favourite venue for politicians to show viewers – and voters – they can prick their own pomposity and laugh at themselves. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have all appeared on past episodes.
This week’s “cold open” featured Rudolph as Harris preparing to deliver a speech in Philadelphia and conversing with running mate Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan), Joe Biden (Dana Carvey) and husband Doug Emhoff (Andy Samberg).
Then, left alone with her thoughts, Rudolph said: “Gosh, I wish I could talk to someone who’s been in my shoes. You know, a Black south Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area.”
She turned to what appeared to be a vanity mirror to see, sitting opposite, the real Kamala Harris. The studio audience erupted in wild cheers and the two women laughed for half a minute.
Harris, hands folded, said: “You and me both, sister.”
Rudolph said: “Nice to see you, Kamala.”
Harris replied: “It is nice to see you, Kamala, and I’m just here to remind you: you got this. Because you can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors.”
This was a reference to Trump reaching towards, and appearing to miss, the door of a garbage truck during a recent stunt. “I see what you did there,” Rudolph said. “Like to a garbage truck, right?”
The actor then burst into an exaggerated cackle. Harris asked: “I don’t really laugh like that, do I?”
This was a near repeat of a line from a 2008 episode when Hillary Clinton, running in the Democratic presidential primary, appeared next to Amy Poehler, who played her with an over-the-top chortle. The real Clinton questioned: “Do I really laugh like that?”
Rudolph then reached out, took Harris’s hand and gave her a pep talk. “Now Kamala, take my palm-ala. The American people want to stop the chaos … ”
Harris rounded off: “And end the drama-la.”
Rudolph: “With a cool new stepmom-ala. Get back in our pajama-las and watch a rom-com-ala.”
Harris: “Like Legally Blonde-ala.”
Rudolph: “And start decorating for Christmas, fa-la-la-la-la. Because what do we always say?”
The pair then said in unison: “Keep calmala and carry on-a-la.”
Rudolph added: “We know each other so well we even finish each other’s…”
They said together: “Belief in the promise of America.”
Rudolph and Harris then stood together. Rudolph said: “I’m going to vote for us.”
Harris replied: “Great. Any chance you are registered in Pennsylvania?” – referring to a pivotal swing state in Tuesday’s election.
Rudolph admitted: “Nope, I am not.”
Harris mused: “Well, worth a shot.”
Together they then delivered the show’s signature line: “And live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
Harris was making her first appearance on the show. “It was fun,” she told reporters on the tarmac before flying to Detroit in the battleground state of Michigan.
Saturday’s episode also featured Tim Kaine, a senator for Virginia who was Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate, performing in a skit where a contestant could not recall who Kaine was. The musical guest, Chappell Roan, announced in September that she is voting for Harris.
Rudolph’s performance has won critical acclaim, including from Harris herself. “Maya Rudolph – I mean, she’s so good,” the vice-president said last month on ABC’s The View. “She had the whole thing, the suit, the jewellery, everything!”
Harris follows a long line of politicians seeking to show a lighter side on Saturday Night Live, broadcast on the NBC network. The first sitting president to take part was Republican Gerald Ford, who made his debut a cold open in April 1976.
Then-senator Barack Obama appeared alongside Poehler impersonating 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.
In 2008 Tina Fey gave a memorial impression of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, joking that “I can see Russia from my house”. Palin herself appeared on the show in the weeks before the election.
Trump hosted Saturday Night Live in 2015, drawing protests outside the studio, and poked fun at his tendency to exaggerate and steer clear of policy specifics. He also appeared in 2004.