Presidential nominees Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have now both appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” though at very different points in their campaigns.
Harris’ brief appearance, playing herself opposite the show’s designated Harris impersonator Maya Rudolph, occurred during the final days of the presidential campaign, and featured the Democratic candidate in an oft-used mirror gag where she sat opposite Rudolph’s fictional Harris, offering words of encouragement.
The appearance has caused controversy, in part because the show’s creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels previously said it was unlikely either candidate would appear on the show this year.
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Vice President Kamala Harris made a cameo on the final episode of “Saturday Night Live” before Tuesday’s presidential election. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
“You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions,” Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter in October. “You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated.”
NBC filed an Equal Time notice with the Federal Communications Commission late Sunday, which would grant Trump an equal amount of time on the network following the vice president’s “SNL” cameo.
While Harris’ appearance was brief, Trump himself has hosted the show twice, first in 2004 and again in 2015, as well as years of being impersonated by everyone from Phil Hartman to Alec Baldwin.
Donald Trump has hosted “SNL” twice, once in 2004 and again in 2015, while running for president. (Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
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Hotline Bling Parody
In 2015, Drake had a mega hit with “Hotline Bling,” accompanied by a simple music video featuring the rapper dancing in an empty space with color-changing lights.
Drake’s dance moves in the video had been widely mocked, so “SNL” did a parody, calling out the dancing as being “dad-like.”
Trump pops up as a “tax guy” singing the lyrics “you used to call me on my cell phone,” and mimicking Drake’s awkward dancing with cast members Beck Bennett, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan and Jay Pharoah (who played Drake).
Martin Short also appeared in the sketch as his character Ed Grimley, joking “Drizzy Drake stole my moves and that’s no lie,” a nod to another popular joke about Drake’s dancing.
Trump embraced some self-mockery with dorky dance moves in a “Hotline Bling” parody music video. (Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
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2015 Monologue
Trump’s second time hosting occurred in the early days of his campaign in 2015, a few months after he formally announced his candidacy.
In his monologue, Trump joked about his ongoing feud with Rosie O’Donnell and the show itself, bringing out cast members Taran Killam and Darrel Hammond, both of whom regularly impersonated him on the show.
Near the end of the monologue, Larry David (who was frequently appearing as Bernie Sanders on the show at the time) calls Trump a racist from the audience, and when asked why, he responds he’d get $5,000 for doing so.
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The bit was a nod to a Latino rights group, DeportRacism.com, that had led a boycott of Trump’s hosting gig at the time, offering the bounty to anyone who would disrupt Trump’s “SNL” appearance following his comments that Mexicans illegally entering the country were “criminals” and “rapists.”
In response to David, Trump said “as a businessman, I can fully respect that.”
Trump also appeared in his 2015 monologue with Taran Killam and Darrell Hammond, who did impressions of him. (Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
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The Prince and the Pauper
Trump hosted “SNL” in 2004 at the height of his “The Apprentice” fame and this sketch allowed him to poke fun at himself.
In a parody of “The Prince and the Pauper” story, Trump plays a janitor opposite Darrell Hammond’s Trump, who decide to switch places to experience a little happiness.
Trump poked fun at himself in his 2004 episode, and faced off twice with Hammond’s impression of him in the monologue and the “Prince and the Pauper” sketch. (Mary Ellen Matthews/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
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As the janitor, Trump is a good sport, delivering lines making fun of his décor style (heavy on gold furnishings at the time) and persona.
Trump, of course, goes full “The Apprentice” at the end after the switch, firing Hammond and joking that he’ll enjoy being the prince.