Saturday Night Live kicked off its 50th season with a series of dry gags, only gently poking fun at both Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaigns.
The famously Democratic-leaning show has long been soft on the Biden Administration, and true to form saved its strongest punches for Donald Trump.
The skit hardly had to do any heavy lifting of its own as it reenacted the former president’s recent comments about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs.
The beginning of the broadcast saw Andrew Dismukes as news anchor David Muir cracking a joke about the ABC News debate being ‘biased toward the Democrats, which … duh.’
SNL alumni Maya Rudolph rejoined the cast as Kamala Harris, bringing back her ‘fun aunt’ aka the ‘Funt’ persona as the Democratic presidential candidate.
‘The Funt has been rebooted,’ Rudolph’s Harris said. ‘2 Funt, 2 Furious.’
Harris said she was campaigning in ‘WisconsinaPennsylvaGeorgia’ – referring to the crucial swing states necessary for a Democratic victory.
‘I am so happy to be campaigning in whatever swing state I’m in, which I will just refer to as Wisconsin-Pennsylv-Georgia because I am going to protect your Va-Georgia’, referring to Harris’ promise to protect women’s rights to an abortion.
‘You see, my campaign is like the Sabrina Carpenter song ‘Espresso,’ Rudolph’s Harris joked. ‘The lyrics are vague but the vibe slaps.’
She added: ‘Now this election is about moving forward. You see, Donald Trump is stuck in the past, but it’s like I say to my husband Doug when he leaves his phone at the Chili’s, “We are not going back.”‘
Jim Gaffigan was introduced next as Minnsota Governor Tim Walz with Gaffigan quipping: ‘In Minnesota we have a saying: “Mind your damn business.”
‘We also have another saying in Minnesota: “My nuts froze to the park bench.”’
Gaffigan’s Walz boasted about his ‘BDE… big dad energy’ before showing off his Costo branded suit.
‘It’s personal for me. I love this country. And as a former teacher, I need the money,’ he cracked.
‘I haven’t been this excited since I got a 10 percent rebate on a leaf blower for Menards,’ Gaffigan’s Walz joked. ‘Can I say, I got that B.D.E…. Big Dad Energy. You see what I did there?
‘I got it. I didn’t want it, but I got it,’ Rudolph’s Harris said before bringing out her husband.
‘Tim is not the only white dude for Harris here today,’ she teased.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, was portrayed by Andy Samberg who decreed himself to be the ‘Second Gentlemensch’ as he made a joke about decorating the White House for Christmas: ‘The theme is Hanukkah.’
‘I’ve heard what the right says about me just because I’m unapologetic about being a man supporting his wife: “Oh, he’s a beta, a wife guy, a trad husband, a little spoon.”
‘You know what, if helping Kamala — who we call Mamala in my family — become president means being a little spoon, then you can cut my little butt,’ Samberg’s Emhoff said.
But the biggest jabs were reserved to James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump who at a rally claimed he noticed people were heading for the exits.
‘I see you trying to leave, but the doors are locked!’ Johnson’s Trump said before noting how he was sad that he is no longer running against Biden.
‘What we wouldn’t give to have him stand next to me and be old! We had this in the bag, but then they did a switcheroo and they swapped out Biden with “skubala”,’ he lamented.
‘They say that me blaming the Democrats for inciting violence is the pot calling the kettle black, but frankly I didn’t know the kettle was black until very recently. I thought the kettle was Indian. Then it decided to turn black,’ he said, in another jibe about Harris’ ethnicity.
Johnson’s Trump then reiterated his claims about immigrants eating people’s pets.
‘They’re doing freak-offs with the dogs, and they’re making the geese watch… They’re doing a Diddy,’ he said, referring to the rapper’s recent arrest.
Fellow cast member Bowen Yang appeared on stage as Trump’s VP JD Vance with Trump staffers rolling away the protective bulletproof glass as he came up.
‘Just this afternoon, he [Trump] told me, J.D., you’re like a son to me because I don’t want you and I’m stuck with you. People are saying I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here? I’ll tell you what I’m doing here, getting this crowd hot. You guys are awesome. I want to talk platform. It’s called project 2025, and…’
The spoof broadcast then returned to the Harris rally with Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden, squinting and wandering aimlessly about the stage before getting confused as he jumbled his words and began to talk in circles.
‘A lot of people forget I’m president. Even me!’ Carvey’s Biden said.
Rudolph’s Harris thanked ‘J Biden’ for ‘putting the country first and for handing over the reins.’
‘I didn’t want to! They made me,’ Carvey said as Biden, seemingly blurting out the truth.
‘I think I did a pretty good job. I passed more bills than any president in history. Folks, we still got work to do, no joke. I’m being serious right now. Come on. Guess what, and by the way. The fact of the matter is,’ Carvey’s Biden said as he became increasingly confused jumbling up his words.
Rudolph’s Harris interrupted him: ‘We can end the drama-la, and the trauma-la, and go relax in our pajama-las,’ she said before Biden interrupted her once again as he got too close to her.