Lorne Michaels Gives the Final Word on Trump and Kamala Harris Appearing on Saturday Night Live
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster; AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels provided a definitive answer on whether or not viewers would see Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump appear on the live show ahead of the presidential election: No.
Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview before the show’s 50th season premiere on Saturday that he had not extended invites to either candidate, then explained that it was due to equal time rules that applied to all presidential candidates, including third party candidates:
You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions. You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated.
This is a change of heart from past years, when Trump infamously hosted SNL in November 2015 after he entered the presidential race. At the time, he was still just a Republican primary candidate and not the party’s nominee. Michaels also offered equal air time — twelve minutes and five seconds — to every other candidate running in the 2016 election.
Similar rules clearly applied to then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, who made a cameo alongside her impersonator Amy Poehler in March of 2008 when she was a Democratic primary candidate, and then-Sen. Barack Obama, who showed up for a cameo earlier in the campaign in September 2007.
In 2008, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin appeared on the show, but the Obama campaign declined to ask for equal time. And apparently, then-Sen. John McCain’s hosting gig the weekend before Election Day wasn’t a problem either.
Michaels said that he wanted to keep the spotlight on the cast members and performers — Maya Rudolph returned to play Harris and cast member James Austin Johnson continued to play Trump. Fellow cast member Bowen Yang was introduced as Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), and Jim Gaffigan showed up to play Harris’s running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). Former cast member Andy Samberg also made his debut as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff — who approved of the casting — and SNL legend Dana Carvey brought a new, well-received take on President Joe Biden.
