Kamala Harris will appear on SNL before presidential election

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally (AP/Brynn Anderson)

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has made an unannounced trip to New York to appear on an episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL), briefly stepping away from the battleground states she has been campaigning in with just three days to go before the election.

Ms Harris departed on Air Force Two after a campaign stop on Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

She was scheduled to head to Detroit, but once the aircraft was in the air, aides said it was actually going to New York.

Her appearance on the show was confirmed by three people familiar with Ms Harris’ plans who were not authorised to speak publicly about them. It is the final SNL episode before Election Day on Tuesday.

Actor Maya Rudolph first played Harris on the show in 2019 and has reprised her role this season, doing a spot-on impression of the vice president, including calling herself “Momala”.

Ms Rudolph opened the show’s season premiere with the line: “Well, well, well. Look who fell out of that coconut tree.”

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at LaGuardia Airport, Saturday night (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

And she has joked about keeping President Joe Biden in his place.

Ms Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, has been played by former cast member Andy Samberg and Mr Biden is played by Dana Carvey, who also famously played then-president George H W Bush in the early 1990s.

Ms Rudolph’s performance has won critical and comedic acclaim — including from Ms Harris herself.

“Maya Rudolph — I mean, she’s so good,” Ms Harris said last month on ABC’s The View. “She had the whole thing, the suit, the jewellery, everything!”

Ms Harris added that she was impressed with Rudolph’s “mannerisms”.

Politicians have a long history on SNL, including Harris’ Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, who hosted the show in 2015.

Hillary Clinton was running for president in the 2008 Democratic primary when she appeared next to Amy Poehler, who played her on the show and offered a trademark, exaggerated cackle.

The real Ms Clinton wondered during her appearance: “Do I really laugh like that?”

Ms Clinton returned in 2016 while running against Mr Trump in a race she ultimately lost.

The first sitting president to appear on Saturday Night Live was Republican Gerald Ford, who did so less than a year after the show debuted.

Mr Ford appeared on April 17, 1976, and declared the show’s famous opening, “Live from New York”.

Barack Obama was still just a Democratic presidential candidate when he appeared in February 2008, and Republican Bob Dole made an appearance in 1996 – a mere 11 days after losing that year’s election to Democrat Bill Clinton.

Mr Dole consoled Norm Macdonald who played the Kansas senator on the show.

Then there was Tina Fey’s 2008 impression of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin — and in particular, her joke that “I can see Russia from my house”.

It was so good that Ms Fey won an Emmy award.

Ms Palin herself appeared on the show that season, in the weeks before the election.