Saturday Night Live is poking fun at the 2024 election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump — with a few fresh cast members in the mix!
During the season 50 premiere of the comedy sketch series on Sept. 28, the show’s cold open featured the much-anticipated casting of some of the biggest faces in politics, including SNL alum Andy Samberg stepping into the role of Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff and Dana Carvey playing President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, Joe Gaffigan appeared as Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Harris was portrayed by Maya Rudolph, while Trump was played by James Austin Johnson, who first debuted his impression of the former president in 2021.
The cold open began with cast member Andrew Dismukes as journalist David Muir introducing Harris’ rally, before Rudolph appeared on stage announcing that, “your fun aunt has returned.”
“The funt has been rebooted,” she said, adding, “Too funt too furious.”
Rudolph’s Harris soon introduced her running mate, Walz, as Gaffigan stepped on stage to cheers from the audience.
“Folks I haven’t been this excited since I got a 10% rebate on a leaf blower from Menards,” he told the crowd, also noting, “I got that BDE: Big Dad Energy.”
“In Minnesota, we have a saying, ‘Mind your damn business.’ We also have another saying in Minnesota, ‘My nuts froze to the park bench,’ ” an energetic Gaffigan, as Walz, told the audience.
However, as Rudolph noted, “Tim is not the only white dude for Harris here today.”
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Samberg’s Emhoff then appeared on stage and introduced himself: “Tis’ I Doug, the second gentle-mensch. Also known as Charlie Brown if he was a grown-up.”
During his speech, he revealed he was, “proud to join the esteemed list of presidential spouses throughout history. Women and men — but all women — that have stood by the president’s side.”
“I for one can’t wait to decorate the White House for Christmas. The theme will be Hannukah,” Samberg quipped as Harris’ husband.
Elsewhere in the sketch, Dismukes’ Muir introduced the audience to Trump’s rally, where among other jokes, Johnson’s Trump admitted he wished Biden was still his opponent.
“We miss Joe Biden. What we wouldn’t give to have him stand next to me and be old,” he said. Yang’s Vance soon appeared alongside to get “this crowd hyped.” Before long, the action returned to Harris’ rally where Carvey appeared to debut his admirable impression of Biden.
“I didn’t want to. They made me,” he said at one point when Rudolph’s Harris thanked him for “handing over the reins.”
Saturday Night Life/YouTube
SNL’s latest political cold open comes weeks ahead of the upcoming presidential election, in which Harris, 59, and Trump, 78, are up against one another.
Earlier this month, the opponents went head-to-head during a debate that aired on ABC on Tuesday, Sept. 10. It was moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis.
Trump said after the event that he will not participate in another debate with the vice president, which would mark his third of the current election cycle, after he previously faced off with President Joe Biden in June.
“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday, Sept. 12. “When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH.’ Polls clearly show that I won the Debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a Second Debate.”
Harris did call for another debate within minutes of leaving the stage — though polls overwhelmingly declared her the winner of the evening, not Trump.
SNL’s season 50 premiere was hosted by Jean Smart and saw Jelly Roll perform as the musical guest.
Others who made cameos during the milestone episode included Smart’s Hack’s costar Hannah
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This season’s SNL cast includes Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker, plus newcomers Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline.
Other hosts and musical guests announced so far for SNL’s season 50 include Nate Bargatze with Coldplay, Ariana Grande with Stevie Nicks, Michael Keaton with Billie Eilish and John Mulaney with Chappell Roan
Saturday Night Live airs weekends at 11:30 p.m. EST on NBC.
