'Saturday Night Live' jabs Trump and Harris – alongside Biden, Vance and Walz – in season premiere
WASHINGTON - "Saturday Night Live" kicked off its 50th season with its political bread-and-butter: A parody of the presidential campaign.
All the candidates took their lumps: Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, Democratic running mate Tim Walz and Republican running mate JD Vance, all appearing at Democratic and Republican rallies as envisioned by SNL writers.
"I am so happy to be campaigning in whatever swing state I'm in, which I will just refer to as Wisconsin-Pennsylva-Georgia," said the faux Harris, portrayed by Maya Rudolph.
Another former "SNL" star, Andy Samberg, played Harris' spouse, Doug Emhoff. He joked about the prospect of becoming the first First Gentleman, noting that would put him in charge of White House Christmas decorations: "The theme will be Hanukkah." If Harris is elected in November, Emhoff would become the first Jewish spouse of a president.
At the end of the skit, former star SNL cast member Dana Carvey walked on to portray a befuddled Biden.
"A lot of people forget I'm president, including me," said the presidential character.
Walz, played by guest star comedian Jim Gaffigan, mocking the everyman persona of the Minnesota governor.
"This is personal for me," said Gaffigan. "I love this country. And, as a former teacher, I need the money."
The SNL skit, framed as a fictional ABC News report, eventually switched to a Trump rally, featuring supporters leaving as it entered its third hour.
"Where the hell is everyone going?" said "Trump," again played by SNL regular James Austin Johnson, spouting nonsensical non-sequiturs and bemoaning the loss of Biden as an opponent.
"I miss Joe Biden ... oh, Joe!" the former faux president said. "We had this in the bag."
The fake Trump brought on Vance, portrayed by "Saturday Night Live" regular Bowen Yang, who mocked his selection by Trump: "Just this afternoon, he told me: 'JD, you're like a son to me - because I don't like you and I'm stuck you.'"
The news media also took some lumps.
The cold opening skit was based on a news report hosted by ABC News anchor David Muir, played by SNL's Andrew Dismukes. 'Muir' joked about performance moderating the Harris-Trump debate, and "whether or not I was biased towards the Democrats."
"Which ... duhhhh."
But the presidential and vice presidential contenders weren't the only politicians mocked this weekend. The cast of "Saturday Night Live" also made joke after joke about North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson and the shocking posts he allegedly made on a pornographic website, reported by CNN.
The famous New York City show also took aim at Mayor Eric Adams' indictment on bribery and foreign funding charges and featured U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett's viral jabs at her fellow lawmakers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'SNL' jabs Trump and Harris – alongside Vance and Walz – in premiere