Kamala Harris will appear on SNL before the US elections: AP

NEW YORK –

Live from New York is a presidential candidate begging for every vote in the last days before the election.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise trip to New York on Saturday to appear on “Saturday Night Live,” briefly moving away from the battleground states where she furiously campaigned for the iconic comedy sketch.

Harris departed on Air Force Two after an early evening stopover in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was scheduled to fly to Detroit, but once airborne, aides told her she would make an unscheduled stop and the plane landed at LaGuardia Airport in Queens.

Harris arrived at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, where SNL tapes, shortly after 8 p.m., just enough time for a short rehearsal before the show airs live at 11:30 p.m. This is the last episode of SNL before Tuesday’s Election Day.

Neither the White House nor her campaign confirmed her appearance on the show, but three people familiar with Harris’ plans who were not authorized to speak publicly about them did.

Actress Maya Rudolph first played Harris on the show in 2019, and she reprized the role this season, doing a perfect impression of the vice president, including calling herself “Momala.”

Rudolph kicked off the show’s season premiere by saying, “Well, well. Look who fell from this coconut tree. And he jokes that he wants to keep President Joe Biden in his place.

Harris’ husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, is played by former cast member Andy Samberg, and Biden is played by Dana Carvey, who also played then-President George H. W. Bush in the early 1990s.

Rudolph’s performance was met with critical and comedic acclaim, including from Harris herself.

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, N.C. (Mike Stewart/AP Photo)

“Maya Rudolph, I mean, she’s so good,” Harris said last month on ABC’s “The View.” “She had everything, the suit, the jewelry, everything!”

Harris added that she was impressed by Rudolph’s “mannerism”.

Jason Miller, a senior adviser to former president and GOP nominee Donald Trump, expressed surprise at Harris’ appearance on SNL given what he called her unflattering portrayal on the show. Asked if Trump had been invited to speak, he replied: “I don’t know. Probably not.

Nevertheless, politicians have a long history on SNL, including Trump, who hosted the show in 2015 — though appearing so close to Election Day is unusual.

Hillary Clinton was running in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary in 2008, when she appeared alongside Amy Poehler, who played her on the show and was known for breaking into her trademark exaggerated giggling. During her speech, the real Clinton wondered, “Am I really laughing like that?”

Clinton returned in 2016, challenging Trump in a race she ultimately lost.

The first sitting president to appear on SNL was Republican Gerald Ford, who did so less than a year after the show debuted. Ford appeared in an April 1976 episode hosted by his press secretary Ron Nessen and declared the show’s famous opening response was, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night.”

Then-Illinois senator Barack Obama appeared alongside Poehler impersonating Clinton in 2007, and Republican Bob Dole appeared on the show in November 1996 – just 11 days after losing that year’s election to Bill Clinton. Dole was comforted by Norm Macdonald, who played the senator from Kansas.

Next came Tina Fey’s impressions of 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, especially her joke that “I can see Russia from my house.” It was so good that Fey ended up winning an Emmy, and Palin herself appeared on the show in October, just weeks before the election.

Long, Miller and Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report