Kamala Harris pokes fun at Donald Trump in Saturday Night Live skit

US presidential candidate appears alongside actress Maya Rudolph on long-running comedy show

Maya Rudolph and Democratic Presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris appear on NBC's Saturday Night Live in New York City. AFP

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Days before Americans head to the polls to elect their 47th president, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris used a surprise appearance on long-running comedy show Saturday Night Live as an opportunity to make fun of opponent Donald Trump.

In the show's opening skit, actress Maya Rudolph, who has for years portrayed Harris in a pitch-perfect impression, sits besides a mirror, saying: “Wow, well this is it. The last campaign stop in Pennsylvania. Gosh, I wish I could talk to someone who's been in my shoes, you know … a black South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area.”

Rudolph, who is dressed as Harris, then turns to the mirror to reveal the Vice President, who's dressed in an identical black blazer and pearl necklace, to loud cheers from the studio audience. “You and me both, sister,” Harris says.

Then, as if speaking to her reflection, Harris adds: “I just want to remind you that you've got this. You can do something that your opponent cannot do: you can open doors,” taking a jibe at Trump struggling to open the door of a truck at an event last week.

Rudolph then lets out her imitation of Harris's laugh. “I don't really laugh like that, do I?” Harris asks, to which Rudolph replies: “Umm, a little bit.”

The pair then exchange a rhyming dialogue. “The American people want to stop the chaos,” Rudolph says, to which Harris replies: “And end the dramala.”

“Keep Calm-ala and carry on-ala,” they then say unison.

Harris is not the first presidential hopeful to appear on SNL, which first premiered in 1975.

In October 2015, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared as she was preparing for the Democratic primaries the following year. The following month, Trump, who would beat Clinton in the 2016 election, appeared in a sketch looking ahead two years into a White House term.

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin also appeared on a 40th anniversary SNL show in 2015, at the time claiming that she would consider Trump as her vice presidential running mate.