Kamala makes a killing on Saturday Night Live amid celebrity rush to back her
TOI correspondent from Washington:Kamala Harris electrified her liberal base with a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live, a storied show in the annals of American comedy that showcases political satire.
Harris appeared in the opening sketch with Maya Rudolph, who impersonates her on a regular basis on the show. The two women, dressed identically, talked to each other across a dressing table through a non-existent vanity mirror, trolling Trump and riffing about the elections.
Rudolph’s Harris opened the sketch alone wishing she could speak with someone, “Who’s been in my shoes, a Black, South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area,” when Kamala appeared to cheers. The two women then joked about Trump not being able to open doors referencing a recent video that showed him Trump struggling to open the door of a garbage truck before a Wisconsin rally.
“Take my palm-ala,” Rudolph said as she grabbed Harris’ hand, and they did a one-two, saying, “The American people want to stop the chaos and end the dram-ala with a cool new step-mamala. Kick back in our pajam-alas and watch a rom-com-ala…Because what do we always say?…“Keep Calm-ala and Carry On-ala.”
Presidential candidates have appeared on the show in the past, including Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump before the 2016 elections. It is not clear if such skits have any effect on voting, but it certainly enthuses supporters while adding some humor to otherwise contentious campaigns.
While Harris supporters expectedly rejoiced at her appearance — her campaign kept it a secret, diverting her plane going to Detroit to land in New York for her to dash to the studio — Trump followers ridiculed the outing while boasting that she was just imitating his appearance on the show in 2015.
Both sides have adopted newer methods in their campaigns, appearing on shows and podcasts aimed at specific demographics in a race that could be determined by a few thousand votes in battleground states.
Celebrity endorsements have also played a larger than usual play in this election cycle with actors from the mostly liberal entertainment industry pitching largely for Harris, leaving Trump grasping at straws. Over the weekend, Harris was endorsed by Hollywood legend Harrison Ford — who has largely remained apolitical — and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was a Republican governor of California.
“To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America is a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious. And I will always be an American before I am a Republican. That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Schwarzenegger said in a post on X.
Trump and his supporters though claim he is a bigger star than all of them and the man who was at the center of the show Celebrity Apprentice does not care about celebrity endorsements. But the MAGA supremo definitely expressed an element of pique over the actress Julia Roberts endorsing Kamala Harris.
“I’m so disappointed at Julia Roberts because I love… she’s going to look back at that and she’s going to cringe,” he moped on Fox, which is working up a lather over pro-Harris ads by Julia Roberts and George Clooney that spouses are not obliged to share their voting preference with their partners.
