Alec Baldwin appeared again in the most recent episode of “Saturday Night Live,” but this time not in his earlier capacity impersonating the former US President Donald Trump.
This time around, Baldwin played FOX News anchor Bret Baier in the cold open, quizzing Maya Rudolph as Vice President Kamala Harris in a send-up of their interview that aired on the network last week.
While Baldwin famously has made appearances playing Trump on “SNL” in seasons past, “SNL” cast member James Austin Johnson has portrayed the former president more recently and was expected by speculators to return this season ahead of the election.
During the spoof of the FOX News interview portion of “SNL,” Baldwin as Baier and Rudolph as Harris debated policy issues such as immigration and abortion.
About immigration: “Rudolph as Harris said of all those cartels that she reportedly took down, ‘If I was in “Breaking Bad,” it would’ve ended in three episodes.'”
Baldwin, as Baier, continuously cut off Rudolph, as Harris, during the interview. At one point, he mocked her for only answering questions because she’s “just looking for a viral moment,” with Rudolph then turning to another camera to forge faux TikTok clips.
They also joked about one of the more viral moments to come from the real-life interview, with Rudolph as Harris and Baldwin as Baier sparring about how he played the wrong clip of Trump. The sketch also included Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden, but absent from the cold open was Andy Samberg, who this season has popped up on the long-running sketch show playing Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
This weekend’s host was Michael Keaton, star of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and the new “Goodrich.” He has hosted three times previously, most recently in 2015, and made a cameo on the show in 2019. Billie Eilish was musical guest. John Mulaney will be hosting the next “SNL” on Nov. 2, joined by musical guest Chappell Roan—just ahead of Election Day.