On ‘SNL,’ Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris shines despite hostile interviewer played by Alec Baldwin
Kamala Harris may have had to talk over a combative Fox News interviewer last week, but on “Saturday Night Live” she was seen.
The sketch comedy showcase continued to find inspiration in a campaign season that has seen the vice president charge into unfriendly territory on Fox News as President Donald Trump, her foe, ventured into unconventional waters by dancing at a town hall.
Harris in an interview that aired Wednesday faced Fox News anchor Bret Baier in an appearance in which both talked over each other. Baier was portrayed by “SNL” royalty Alec Baldwin, who marked his first appearance on the show since a judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against him in connection with the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the movie “Rust.”
In the comedic reality of “Saturday Night Live,” Harris, portrayed by Maya Rudolph, used her time to reach out to younger voters on TikTok.
“I am not looking for a viral moment,” she told Baier before turning to her left and using a youth buzzword: demure. “See how I don’t let men interrupt my answers? Very demure. Very mindful.”
She later added, “In da clerb, we all fam,” a line-turned-meme from the TV show “Broad City.”
For his part, Trump, played by repertory player James Austin Johnson, tried to ensure voters America is both the greatest country in the world and a terrible place.
“We’re a failing country,” Johnson’s Trump said. “America’s a place full of jerks and idiots. But we love it. It’s really bad.”
Harris criticized Trump after some supporters who attended his Oct. 12 rally in Coachella, California, alleged campaign buses left them stranded afterward, leaving them to walk to vehicles parked a few miles away.
“Hundreds of elderly people got to walk back to their cars six miles through the desert like an Old Testament Fire Festival,” Harris said.
“SNL” veteran Dana Carvey played Biden. Harris said she would be a “jabillion times jabetter” than “Juh-Biden” as president.
Harris hammered Trump for his appearance at an Oaks, Pennsylvania, town hall Tuesday where, after two questions, the former president issued song requests to campaign staffers who DJ’d for the rest of the event as Trump danced and swayed for more than 30 minutes.
“He can dance all he wants to YMCA or to any other song he doesn’t realize is a gay anthem,” Rudolph’s Harris said.
Michael Keaton, who returned to dark comedy in the “Beetlejuice” sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” hosted. Billy Eilish was the show’s musical guest for the third time.
“SNL” airs on NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.
