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It's Maya Rudolph's Team Harris vs. Team Trump on SNL's "Family Feud" Cold Open
Andy Samberg, Dana Carvey, and Jim Gaffigan also returned for a game show face-off against James Austin Johnson's Trump.
It was Democrats vs. Republicans in the third cold open of Saturday Night Live's Season 50, as Maya Rudolph's Vice President Kamala Harris went buzzer-to-buzzer with James Austin Johnson's Donald Trump in the show's latest Family Feud sketch.
The cold open also brought back Andy Samberg as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Jim Gaffigan as Minnesota governor and VP candidate Tim Walz, and Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden. On Team Trump, there was Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day) and Bowen Yang's J.D. Vance. There was also an empty spot held for former first lady Melania Trump, who's been largely absent from the campaign trail with few exceptions including an April fundraiser for which she was reportedly paid over $200,000, per CNN (but hope springs eternal for a Cecily Strong cameo).
"It's so strange, I could've sworn she was standing right beside me about two years ago," Johnson's Trump explained.
The sketch started out with CNN reporter Kaitlin Collins (Chloe Fineman) setting the scene. "Despite repeated offers from the Harris campaign, Donald Trump has officially refused to appear in another debate, saying, quote, 'it's not because I'm scared, so don't tell people I'm scared.' However, there was one format in which President Trump was willing to face off against Harris. We take you live to that now."
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Maya Rudolph's Kamala Harris faces off against James Austin Johnson's Trump on SNL
After Host Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson) introduced the players — Walz confused him with Cedric the Entertainer, while Biden thinks he's on Wheel of Fortune — Harris and Trump are ready to play the Feud.
"I'm telling you Steve, she's gonna be horrible at this game, she's a very low-IQ person," Trump told Harvey, a verbatim quote of the Republican candidate's real-life descriptions of his opponent and her running mate. After Trump denied Harris's claim that "anyone can manipulate him simply through flattery," she tells him he "looks handsome tonight."
"I love her. Isn't she great? She's got my vote," Trump tells Harvey.
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Following a stump speech from the VP, Harris and Emhoff correctly guess what Americans keep in their glove box ("a Glock" and then a second gun), Walz and Biden flail, and then it's Trump's turn ("I've been told not to speak," Yang's Vance explains).
"Well, Steve, I've never ridden in the front seat of a car, so this question is very unfair," Trump told Harvey. "So to answer this I'm going to do one of my signature weaves — it's called 'the weave' where I say lots of different things, but it all comes together so beautifully."
Johnson went on to fully unleash his acclaimed Trump impression, in a demonstration of what the candidate has been calling "the weave" at rallies and in interviews in the face of reports about meandering remarks at campaign events.
"They're eating the pants — they're eating Moo Deng," Johnson's Trump said, ending his tangent with, "See what I did there, Steve?"
Watch the "Family Feud Election 2024 Cold Open" from Season 50, Episode 3 above.
