Unusual Move in Final Election Campaign Stage
Strategy to Sway Undecided Voters
"I Can Do What Trump Cannot"
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris made a rare surprise appearance on NBC's flagship comedy program "Saturday Night Live" (SNL).
On the 2nd (local time) at the NBC studio in New York during the filming of "Saturday Night Live" (SNL), Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (right) and Maya Rudolph, who plays Vice President Harris. [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]
On the 2nd (local time), after finishing her campaign schedule in Charlotte, North Carolina, Vice President Harris was originally scheduled to move to Michigan but changed her destination to New York City and made a cameo surprise appearance on SNL, which aired from 11:30 p.m. that day. Harris played the role of giving a pep talk to actress and comedian Maya Rudolph, who was dressed in the same black suit and hairstyle as Harris, standing opposite a mirror.
Since its inception in 1975, SNL has been a representative American satirical comedy program that parodies weekly political and cultural issues. Harris’s surprise appearance on SNL, which is widely popular among the American public, is interpreted as a strategy to target undecided voters in the final stages of the election. The New York Times (NYT) noted, "Very few people have appeared on SNL in the final stages of a campaign."
On the 2nd (local time) at the NBC studio in New York during the filming of 'Saturday Night Live' (SNL), Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (right) and Maya Rudolph, who plays Vice President Harris. [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]
On the day, as Rudolph looked into the mirror and said, "I want to talk to someone who has been in my position, a Black woman running for president and an Asian woman. Preferably someone from the Bay Area," Harris appeared opposite the mirror. Harris reassured Rudolph, who was her mirror image, saying, "You can do things your opponent (Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump) cannot."
When Rudolph imitated Harris and laughed out loud, Harris asked, "I don’t laugh like that, do I?" and Rudolph replied, "A little," showing them laughing together. Harris also asked Rudolph, "Are you registered to vote in Pennsylvania by any chance?" Pennsylvania is the biggest battleground state in this election with 19 electoral votes.
Until now, Rudolph has portrayed Vice President Harris on SNL. Vice President Harris praised Rudolph’s performance on last month’s ABC talk show "The View," saying, "Rudolph’s acting is really excellent."
The Trump campaign immediately reacted to this. Steven Cheung, spokesperson for the Trump campaign, criticized on Fox News, saying, "Harris has nothing substantial to offer the American people, so she is appearing on 'Saturday Night Leftists' to put on a twisted fantasy show."
Meanwhile, in April 1976, President Gerald Ford was the first sitting president to appear on the program less than a year after SNL started. Former President Trump appeared in 2004 before entering politics. Ahead of the 2008 election, both major party candidates, former President Barack Obama and the late Senator John McCain, appeared separately. Also, in 2015, ahead of the primary elections for each party’s presidential candidates, former President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on the show.
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