Maya Rudolph Returned To ‘SNL’ To Play Kamala Harris And People Are Loving It

Aside from the typically political cold open sketch, Saturday Night Live went hard on political material with its 45th season premiere this weekend. One of the most blatant examples of this was the “DNC Town Hall” sketch, in which many of the Democratic Party’s presidential hopefuls turned up to “handle the impeachment the only way they know how: with a muddled, 10-person town hall debate.” Between new cast members Bowen Yang (and Andrew Yang) and Chloe Fineman (as Marianne Williamson), and returning Bernie Sanders impersonator Larry David, it was great.

But it was returning SNL alum Maya Rudolph’s performance as Kamala Harris that won the sketch. Not only did Rudolph’s debut earn the biggest cheer break throughout the bit, but practically everything she did throughout the 10-minute sketch had the audience laughing its loudest. Like when, following audience question about the possibility of Vice President Joe Biden’s being “implicated in this Ukraine scandal in some way,” Rudolph’s Harris replied, “Oh no, that would be terrible! Not Joe Biden!”

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) September 29, 2019

Drink in hand notwithstanding, Rudolph’s impression of Harris — from her general cadence to the oft-repeated “that girl” anecdote — was perfect. Everyone watching the SNL premiere at home took notice — including the senator from California herself.

That girl was me. pic.twitter.com/btmrzJnm6u

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 29, 2019

Maya Rudolph

That’s the tweet pic.twitter.com/6UaFVGrZKT

— Meena Harris (@meenaharris) September 29, 2019

Maya Rudolph impression of Kamala Harris is on point.

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) September 29, 2019

DREAMS COME TRUE VIA MAYA RUDOLPH. #SNL pic.twitter.com/jSlJVVRvjU

— Justin Kirkland (@justinkirkland4) September 29, 2019

I’ll watch anything as long as Maya Rudolph is in it. https://t.co/np7v5fnegT

— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) September 29, 2019