Kamala Harris to appear on ‘Saturday Night Live’ ahead of US election: report

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris flew into New York unexpectedly on Saturday to appear on “Saturday Night Live,” just three days before her campaign fight against Republican Donald Trump.

Harris’ campaign declined to comment, but reporters accompanying the campaign were escorted to the headquarters of NBC, the network that airs the popular comedy show, and two sources said she would participate. The show will air at 11:30 pm ET.

An appearance on “Saturday Night Live” will provide an unexpected boost before the show. presidential elections on Tuesday.

The long-running show has separately featured both Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain in 2008, as well as Trump in 2004, long before he entered politics.

Earlier Saturday, Harris and Trump’s planes shared the tarmac in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The close encounter was a stark illustration of how the two candidates are focusing on a handful of states where Tuesday’s US presidential election will ultimately be won or lost.

Candidates are campaigning in the same state for the fourth day in a row. Only seven states, including North Carolina, are considered truly competitive. But a Des Moines Register poll released Saturday showed Harris with a surprise lead in Iowa, a state Trump won easily in the last two elections.

Harris campaigned in Charlotte, North Carolina, with rock star Bon Jovi, while Trump held a rally in suburban Gastonia. It is unknown whether he was on the plane when Harris arrived.

Trump and Harris stuck to familiar themes in their speeches.

Trump said he would deport millions of immigrants if elected and warned that if Harris wins, “every city in America will be turned into a squalid and dangerous refugee camp.”

While campaigning in Atlanta, Harris said Trump would abuse his power if he returned to the White House.

“This is a person who is becoming increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by resentment, and this is a person who seeks unlimited power,” she said.

More than 72 million Americans have already voted, according to the University of Florida Election Lab, slower than 2020’s record pace of early voting during COVID-19 but still indicating high levels of voter enthusiasm.

In North Carolina, western counties hit by Hurricane Helen voted at about the same rate as the rest of the state, according to Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer.

Trump criticized the federal government’s response to the disaster and repeated his false claim that aid was diverted from the state to help immigrants entering the country.

“BEAUTIFUL WHITE SKIN”

At a later rally in Salem, Virginia, a state that analysts say he is unlikely to win, Trump said he was running for president to save the economy from “destruction” even though he would have found it easier to relax on one its oceanfront resorts. .

“I didn’t need to be here today,” he said. “I could stand on this beach, my beautiful white skin turning beautiful, and get hit in the face by a wave filled with salt water.”

Trump was joined on stage by women from a local college swim team who objected to competing with transgender athletes. Some of Trump’s television ads have tried to capitalize on the transgender controversy.

Harris and Trump have very different policies on major issues, including support for Ukraine and NATO, abortion rights, immigration, taxes, democracy and tariffs, reflecting the split between the Democratic and Republican parties.