Kamala Harris And Hillary Clinton Put Maya Rudolph And Amy Poehler On The Spot At Biden Event: How Do You Play Us On ‘Saturday Night Live’?
The latest Biden campaign fundraiser had plenty of statements about the importance of the next election, the urgency of defeating Donald Trump, and all that is at stake for the future.
But it also was a bit surreal, as Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton joined with Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler, who spoofed them on Saturday Night Live.
“You’ve each played one of us on Saturday Night Live. Can you just …walk us through what that process is like?” Harris asked the two comedians.
“Like, in front of you?” Rudolph answered, as Clinton let out a loud laugh. “That’s embarrassing.”
“It is kind of a weird question to ask,” Harris admitted.
The low-dollar virtual event, which drew more than 100,000 donors, raised more than $6 million for the Biden Victory Fund.
After pausing for a bit, Rudolph did give an answer.
“In terms of Senator Harris, I didn’t have an impression because I wasn’t walking around the house doing my Kamala” she said. “But I think it starts with trying to get someone’s voice if you can. I’m that person that when I am telling a story about someone, when I [say] the words that they said, I usually say it in that person’s voice. So I tend to mimic the sound of people’s voices, or if there are gestures or mannerisms.” ? She said that although there was nothing overt about Harris’ mannerism, “when they put the wig on me, it was done.”
“It is all about the wig, isn’t it?” Poehler said, before quipping that in preparation she does “like a Tom Brady — tons of workouts, I eat really clean. I hang out with my supermodel wife. I try to get a lot of sleep, take my protein powder, stay away from processed foods and get ready for the season because I want to get that ring.”
Clinton recalled appearing on SNL with Poehler and seeing her and being surprised. She saw Poehler “wearing one of my outfits. I couldn’t believe it. It was just so out of body experience time.”
“It is pretty strange to stand next to the person you are dressed as,” Poehler said.
Poehler had some audio problems at points during the fundraiser, but Rudolph posed one of her questions to Clinton: What advice does she have to Harris in taking on Vice President Mike Pence at their debate on Oct. 7?
Clinton gave a multipart answer. “You literally have to be able to respond to what the moderator has to ask you, but also to respond to whatever your opponent on stage is saying or doing,” she said. “So you have got to have almost a 360 degree awareness, because as I found in 2016 with Trump, he could have cared less about answering the questions or even giving accurate information. He came prepared to insult, to bully, to loom over the presence. I think that is probably what he will try to do to Vice President Biden.”
Clinton also had a word of caution about Pence. “I think what Mike Pence will try to do is somehow subtly undercut Kamala, try to say, ‘Well that is not the way it is done. That is not what we expect. Or that is not what we believe.’ Trying to somehow put her in the box of ‘the inexperienced woman candidate.’ And she is not going to stand for that, and she is not going to put up with it. And she has to modulate her responses because we know there is a double standard that is alive and well when it comes to women in politics. She has got to be firm and effective in rebutting any implication that comes from the other side, but to do it in a way that doesn’t scare or alienate voters.”
There was agreement among Harris, Clinton, Rudolph and Poehler in the importance of having a sense of humor, and the one figure who lacks one — Trump.
“I’ve never seen him laugh. I’ve never ever seen him make fun of himself, certainly not his hairdo. That is something I am quite experienced in,” Clinton said. “It is really telling that part of the cruelty and the indifference and just the plain meanness that we see on a regular basis from him is in part because he has no sense of humor.”
Harris said, “There is nothing joyful about him…And it is such a shame, really. On one level, you just have to feel like everyone should have something in their life that gives them the ability to smile, a genuine smile.”
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