'Saturday Night Live' kicked off its 50th season this weekend with an episode Full of reference materials For the upcoming election.
Actress and comedian Maya Rudolph returns to the cast as Vice President Harris, and James Austin Johnson reappears as former President Trump in a cold outdoor setting that pokes fun at their respective campaign rallies.
Rudolph mentions Harris' “coconut tree” phrase, which went viral at the start of the campaign, and said her bid is “the lyrics are vague but the vibe is slap,” so Sabrina Carpenter's hit “Espresso” I joked that it looked like.
Rudolph was joined on stage by several big-name guests currently playing politicians.
Jim Gaffigan plays Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minnesota), Harris' running mate, and leans into dad jokes. Andy Samberg played Harris' husband Doug Emhoff, and Dana Carvey played President Biden.
Gaffigan, who plays Waltz, called Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), “weirdos.” Mr. Walz popularized this comment over the summer, gaining national notoriety for explicitly criticizing the other side before Harris named her vice president.
Samberg took to the stage with Rudolph to play the first Second Gentleman Emhoff, trying to shake off attacks from Republicans for his continued support of his wife.
“I am proud to join a list of esteemed presidential spouses throughout history, including both women and men, all of whom are women,” Samberg said.
Rudolph thanked Biden for stepping aside to allow him to run, and said Carvey, like Biden, “didn't want to do it” but “they made me.” .
The cold open also featured a visit to Trump at a rally performed by Johnson. He cited recent assassination attempts on Republican candidates and Trump's comments about Harris' race.
“They say accusing Democrats of me inciting violence is like turning the kettle black,” Johnson said. “But to be honest, I didn't know until recently that the kettle was black. I thought the kettle was Indian, but she decided to make it black. ”
Before introducing his running mate, Johnson said that people have been saying that Trump and fellow running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) were a poor choice. That's right. JD, come up.”
“How much do we love Donald Trump? Just this afternoon he said to me, 'JD, you're like a son to me, because I love you. It's because he doesn't like it and he's stuck with you,'' said Bowen, who plays Vance.
The episode was hosted by Jean Smart and featured musical guest Jelly Roll.
