Maya Rudolph and Kamala Harris are a match made in sketch comedy heaven. When the Vice President of the United States first ran in 2019, the internet almost immediately buzzed with the idea of “Saturday Night Live” alum Maya Rudolph, whose resemblance to Harris is striking, returning to the beloved sketch comedy show to play the political figure.
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Rudolph depicted Harris during her presidential run and during her run campaigning alongside Joe Biden as Vice President. While time will tell if Rudolph will reprise her turn as Harris when “SNL” returns this fall (she’s teased the possibility as recently as this week), we’re breaking down some of Rudolph’s best performances as Harris.
DNC Town Hall
Rudolph made her grand return to “SNL” as Harris in a sketch in September 2019, more than a year before she would eventually become the next Vice President of the United States. Taking on the DNC Town Hall that saw Harris gain massive momentum in the 2020 Democratic primary, Rudolph’s performance gets right to the point, immediately repeating Harris’ viral “That little girl was me” moment.
2020 Democratic Debate
Alongside other “SNL” cast members playing presidential hopefuls, Rudolph returned to the “SNL” stage once again in a sketch centered around the Democratic primary race, this time mimicking the much-buzzed-about debate. Leaning into Harris’ various meme-worthy moments from her 2020 campaign, the successful sketch was another glimpse at just how spot-on Rudolph’s Harris can be.
PBS Democratic Debate Cold Open
A bittersweet performance, Rudolph’s appearance in SNL’s take on a Democratic Debate Cold Open on CBS aired after Harris dropped out of the Presidential race. At the time, it seemed as if this could perhaps be Rudolph’s last time taking on Harris on the show. “You could have had a bad bitch,” Rudolph as Harris sings in the sketch, referencing Lizzo’s hit song, “Truth Hurts.” Thankfully, Harris’ journey to the White House (and Rudolph’s return to SNL) was only beginning.
VP Fly Debate Cold Open
Another memorable performance was when the sketch show took on the Vice Presidential debate between then-Vice President Mike Pence and Vice Presidential nominee Harris. The scene leaned heavily on the COVID-19 aspects of the time, including Harris walking out with Lysol in hand. The greatest moment of the sketch, however, is when Rudolph perfectly recites one of the breakout lines from the original debate: “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking!”
Kamala
Our final pick is the 2021 “Kamala” sketch. Airing when Harris was already vice president, the skit sees Harris hosting a Passover dinner with a few familiar faces, including “SNL” legend Martin Short as the Second Gentleman and husband to Harris Doug Emhoff, Aidy Bryant as Ted Cruz, Kenan Thompson as Senator Raphael Warnock, Alex Moffat as Joe Biden and more. Lower stakes than the sketches recreating actual debates, the nearly eight-minute scene allows Rudolph to sit in her Harris impersonation in all its glory as she hosts a fabulous (and friendly) dinner.
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