The secondary beneficiaries of Joe Biden‘s exit from the 2024 presidential race? Lorne Michaels, who has had a notoriously difficult time casting someone to impersonate the current POTUS on Saturday Night Live, and Maya Rudolph, who has already made herself an MVP guest star for her portrayal of Kamala Harris, the apparent heir to the DNC nomination.
Following Biden’s endorsement of Harris’ campaign — and the tens of millions of dollars in donations and dozens of major endorsements — X (formerly known as Twitter) went ham with the Maya Rudolph memes, with everyone agreeing that the actress is bound to have plenty of work when the show returns for Season 50.
Maya Rudolph on that next phone call with Lorne Michaels pic.twitter.com/p6mvDon4EJ
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) July 21, 2024
Before the new season ushers in a new nominee’s portrayal, here’s a look back at Rudolph’s prior portrayals of Harris.
She burst onto the scene as America’s “cool aunt”
Long before the Democrats would decide on their 2020 candidate, Maya Rudolph first made her debut as Kamala Harris during the show’s September 2019 “DNC Town Hall.” Riffing on the first real-life debate in which she sparred with Joe Biden over bussing, calling herself “that little girl,” Rudolph’s version said, “I’m not just that little girl. I’m also America’s cool aunt. A fun aunt. I call that a ‘funt’ — the kind of funt that will give you weed but then arrest you for having weed. Can I win the presidency? Probably not. I don’t know. Can I successfully seduce a much younger man? You better funting believe it.” She also went on to praise her legal eagle presence, saying, “I’m Rizzoli and I’m Isles. I’m a walking, talking TNT show. Don’t you want four more years of me dressing down our enemies like this?”
Though her portrayal wasn’t as defined in this moment as it’d later be, she still stood out in a very crowded field of candidate impressions and solidified her staying power in the role right away.
She leaned into some slapstick for her second showing
In November 2019, Rudolph returned to Studio 8H for the 2020 Democratic Debate sketch, proclaiming, “The funt is back baby!” She also played upon the then-candidate’s struggling campaign numbers, joking, “Mama needs a GIF!” She then followed that up with some more physical ridiculousness with an “ermagherd” reaction to Cecily Strong’s frightening Tulsi Gabbard take and a play on the then-ubiquitous housewife versus cat meme.
This wasn’t the most substantive impression Rudolph would have to offer, but the actress’ commitment to the bit made it work.
She returned after dropping out to make Americans eat their hearts out
After Harris suspended her campaign, Rudolph still returned for the next debate’s resulting cold open for a surprise cameo. “I was just in the neighborhood, but while I’m here,” she teased before turning to look directly at the camera with windswept hair, “I just want to show you how good you could’ve had it America. You withheld your donations, and I got tired of waiting, so I walked my fine a** out the door. You could’a had a bad b****.” Later, she even did a little dance about how low drama-la Kamala would’ve been, compared to the rest of the people on stage, after joking, “I’ll still beat Trump… When he gets to the Senate Judiciary Committee, he’s going to wish he’d never heard my name… It’s pronounced ‘Kamala.’ It rhymes with ‘Pamela.’”
At this point, Rudolph was completely settled into the role and having a great time with it — so much so that she would go on to win an Emmy — and arguably helped keep Kamala Harris in the conversation.
She made a big comeback after the running mate announcement
In September 2020, Rudolph returned to the role as Biden’s (Jim Carrey) running mate to condemn Trump (Alec Baldwin) for his bad behavior at the first debate, demanding an apology. “I think if there’s one thing we learned tonight, it’s America needs a WAP: woman as president,” she said. “But for now I’ll settle for HVPIC — hot vice president in charge.”
Her display of pure “mamala” energy in comparison to the histrionics of the men in the room was outstanding — and prescient, really.
She addressed the fly in the room during the VP debate
“The senator from Kamalafornia is present,” she joked upon taking stage for the debate between herself and then-Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett). “I’m speaking,” she repeatedly said, to mock Harris’ memorable moment from the IRL debate. Then, when the infamously large black fly landed on Pence’s bright white hair, she leaned back in the chair and with a smile, joked, “I’m good! Lookin’ real good, Mike, keep it up.”
From there it ventured into the ridiculous, but it certainly echoed the mood of most Americans during an unhinged moment in history.
She encouraged a little bit of gloating after the win
After the 2020 general election results were confirmed, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared victory in the 2020 campaign, Jim Carrey and Maya Rudolph took the stage to celebrate. And while Carrey’s Biden tried to avoid rubbing the win in Trump’s “macho man” face, Rudolph’s Harris had a song to share: “You About to Lose Your Job.”
The dance was festive, and Carrey’s repurposing of the “loo-hoo-hoo-ser” gag from Ace Venture really sold it.
She then got into the holiday spirit for her most recent turn
In March 2021, Rudolph once again portrayed Harris — only this time, it was as host of a Passover dinner with Biden (this time, Alex Moffat) and Ted Cruz (Aidy Bryant) of all people — cohosted by her hubby and America’s second gentleman Doug Emhoff (Martin Short).
The best moment in hindsight, of course, was when Doug said, “If you’re just vice president,” she responded, “Oh, no, that won’t be enough.”
Saturday Night Live, Season 50 Premiere, Saturday, September 28, 11:30/10:30c, NBC
