Lorne Michaels Says Donald Trump & Kamala Harris Won’t Be On “SNL”

As we’ve seen in seasons past, election years are a great way for Saturday Night Live to get ratings bumps. This season seems to be no different. Not only is it the 50th season, but there’s also celebrity cameos - such as Maya Rudolph playing Kamala Harris, Jim Gaffigan playing Tim Walz, Dana Carvey playing Joe Biden, and Andy Samberg playing Douglas Emhoff. One thing you should not expect to see? Appearances from the politicians themselves.

Lorne Michaels, series creator & executive producer, recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions. You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated.”

Obviously, his stance has changed over time. In years past, we have seen politicians actively campaigning for office. Barack Obama appeared on the show in a Halloween sketch in 2007, Hillary Clinton appeared both in 2008 and 2015, and then Sarah Palin and John McCain also appeared in 2008, in the weeks (and in the case of McCain, days) leading up to the election.

But most notably, it was Donald Trump that probably changed the course on things. When he hosted in the fall of 2015, he wasn’t even the GOP frontrunner, though his rhetoric did get him a lot of attention. But Trump’s appearance - in which he only was on the show for a total of 12 minutes and some change - brought on some complaints from his fellow Presidential hopefuls. As a result, NBC had to invite everyone on for equal time, which can become a headache in such a crowded political space.

Something tells us it was that appearance that led to this new rule for Michaels, as we haven’t seen it done since. Perhaps that’s for the best.