No dressing room mirror gag for her, but CNN’s Kaitlan Collins was in Studio 8H as Chloe Fineman portrayed her on Saturday Night Live last night.
Going in, Collins didn’t know Kamala Harris would appear on the show, although—as she told colleague Brian Stelter in a special Sunday pre-election edition of his Reliable Sources newsletter, there were some tells.
“It was clear from entering 30 Rock that guests were in for a surprise—there were magnetometers and Secret Service,” Collins told Stelter.
“The crowd went absolutely wild when she appeared on set,” Collins added.
Collins caught up with her own portrayer afterward the show for a photo and apparently shared a moment with the vice president as she exited the set following her cameo. “She saw me and mouthed, ‘Are you ready for Tuesday?'” Collins told Stelter.
Harris’ cameo came at the end of a cold open that saw appearances from each of the show’s all-star pre-election players: Dana Carvey as Joe Biden, Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, and, of course, Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris.
The real Harris appeared after Rudolph-as-Harris expressed a desire “to talk to someone who’s been in my shoes, you know: a Black, South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area.”
As she gazed into the mirror, the real Harris looked back at her and agreed. “You and me both, sister.”
The audience response was so enthusiastic that Harris had to repeat the line 30 seconds later. Then proceeded to assure (fake) Harris that “You’ve got this. Because you can do something your opponent cannot do: You can open doors.”
