SNL bans Harris and Trump cameos this year not to run afoul of election laws

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Saturday Night Live premiered its 50th season over the weekend, but don’t expect any presidential candidates to make any cameos on the show this election season.

“You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions,” executive producer Lorne Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”

Still, the variety show isn’t totally done with its famous cameos, a tradition which included Donald Trump hosting an episode in 2015.

“Everybody knows what we do, and I think we’re going to do it again. It’s what we’re supposed to be doing,” Michaels added in his interview with the magazine. “So, what’s interesting is if you say to the people that we just did that to, ‘Do you want to come on because we have a way to do it with you in it?’ They almost always say yes.”

In the meantime, political comedy fans will have to do with the show’s presidential stand-ins.

During the season premiere, Saturday Night Live called on a mix of legendary former cast members, current performers, and outside comedians to represent the 2024 field.

Former castmate Maya Rudolph handled impersonating Harris, while current member James Austin Johnson reprised his role as Trump and Bowen Yang took on JD Vance.

Dana Carvey, meanwhile, took the stage as Biden and comedian Jim Gaffigan played a rambunctious Tim Walz.

The show’s impressions have a way of becoming entangled in the political zeitgeist.

Most famously, Tina Fey’s portrayal of Republican VP hopeful Sarah Palin as a ditzy oddball became perhaps more well-known than the actual candidate.

Other famous Saturday Night Live presidential impressions include Carvey’s version of George H.W. Bush, which so delighted the then-president that the two became friends offstage.