Donald Trump’s campaign accused Kamala Harris of ‘cosplaying’ with her ‘elite friends’ by appearing on Saturday Night Live three days before the 2024 presidential election.
Trump’s communications director said in a statement to DailyMail.com that Harris will appear on shows like SNL because she has “nothing substantial to offer” Americans in her run for president.
Vice President Harris’ plane made an unannounced stop in New York City on Saturday for the Democratic presidential hopeful to make a surprise cameo on the NBC sketch show.
“Kamala Harris has nothing substantial to offer the American people, which is why she’s living out her twisted fantasy by cosplaying with her elitist friends on Saturday Night Leftists while her campaign falls down the drain into darkness,” said Steven Cheung.
“Over the past four years, Kamala’s destructive policies have brought untold misery and pain to all Americans,” he continued. “She broke it and President Trump will fix it.”
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for spending precious time in the days leading up to the 2024 presidential election by making a surprise cameo on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Harris appears on the hit late-night show with just three days left until the election, in a move designed to reach millions of viewers, even if it is at the expense of another decisive state event.
The vice president praised veteran SNL cast member Maya Rudolph, who was tapped to play Harris after President Joe Biden ended her re-election bid.
The visit is the latest in a long line of appearances by presidential candidates on the show, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.
It also comes after Trump visited the Big Apple last weekend for a massive rally at Madison Square Garden.
The surprise visit to New York came during the final laps of the campaign, when travel schedules sometimes reveal where a candidate is making his best play.
Both candidates held rallies early Saturday in the critical swing state of North Carolina, where polls have the race deadlocked.
Trump also took the stage in Virginia, where he trails in the polls. And he’ll end the day with a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In retrospect, there were some obvious signs that some advance preparations had been made. Harris had just two events Saturday, one in Atlanta and one in Charlotte, at a time when campaigns are flooding swing states with candidates and surrogates.
Kamala Harris is seen waving to photographers as she lands at LaGuardia Airport on Saturday night ahead of her surprise appearance on SNL.
Harris stayed true to her agenda as she went from city to city. It wasn’t until it was on the air that advisers told the press group traveling with Harris that she was going to New York, and even then they didn’t say why.
Tellingly, seats were made available aboard Air Force 2, a Boeing 757, for four photographers. The campaign avoided directly confirming its plans officially, although it became evident when the candidate traveled by car from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Rockefeller Center, where NBC has its studios and the show is filmed.
Earlier this week, Harris failed to land an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, another platform to reach the masses.
He interviewed Donald Trump a little over a week ago and posted ratings of more than 17 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours.
SNL receives fewer than five million views per episode, so his appearance tonight will reach considerably fewer Americans than a reunion with Rogan would have, though perhaps on more favorable ground.
Rogan confirmed that Harris declined to appear on his podcast due to scheduling conflicts and a clash over how long the interview would last.
The podcast host talked about why the “very difficult” vice president hadn’t appeared on his popular show that has 14 million subscribers and 18 million YouTube followers.
Campaign advisors returned mid-flight to inform the press that she would make a stopover in New York.
Last month, Saturday Night Live fans were outraged by a sketch they said was intended to save Kamala Harris’ face after her ‘disastrous’ interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.
In the parody, the recently licensed Alec Baldwin took on the role of Baier in a surprise appearance.
The cold opening contained several instances of Baldwin’s Baier interrupting Rudolph, painting the personality’s line of questioning as combative.
However, many online viewers remained unconvinced, claiming the display was a lame attempt to gain a more favorable judgment in the court of public opinion.
Saturday Night Live fans are up in arms over sketch they say was meant to save face for Kamala Harris
“Well, Kamala is collapsing in the polls, so desperate @nbcsnl brought out the big guns,” one such user wrote on X.
‘Yes, that was @AlecBaldwin playing the Fox News journalist! Too soon?’ They then asked, referencing the regular host’s recently resolved manslaughter case.
Earlier on Saturday, Harris’ campaign advisers flew back from her rally in North Carolina to inform the press pool that she would be stopping in New York on her way to Detroit, Michigan.
Initially, attendees did not directly respond to questions about what she will do in New York.
But Harris’ motorcade stopped at Rockefeller Center just before 8 p.m., where SNL is taped.
Harris still plans to head to Detroit after SNL’s surprise detour, where she will have a morning rally on Sunday.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are spending their final campaign weekend just three days away from what could be one of the closest elections in history.
More than 70 million Americans have already cast their ballots, but candidates are still pushing to persuade the final critical voters who could lead them to victory.
DailyMail.com’s polling partners JL Partners show Harris has the momentum to accelerate ahead of November 5, with the race trending toward volatile territory.
Harris will likely come face to face with longtime SNL cast member Maya Rudolph, who was specifically chosen to play the vice president after Joe Biden dropped out of the race.