SNL recycled a Trump sketch for Kamala Harris and fans are not happy

Kamala Harris shocked everyone when she appeared on the November 2 episode of Saturday Night Live. Lorne Michaels had previously stated that no politicians would be appearing on the show during season 50, but he seemingly changed his mind.

Harris appeared alongside the comedian who has been impersonating her, Maya Rudolph, during the episode's cold open. The skit consisted of Rudolph looking in the mirror and giving herself a pep talk, and the real Harris was on the other side, serving as her reflection.

Kamala Harris' mirror skit was done by Trump in 2015

In a vacuum, this skit is nothing special. It's surprising that Harris participated, but it wasn't an especially funny or notable cold open. In the context of the show's history, though, the decision to recreate this skit rubbed some fans the wrong way.

The mirror skit is a go to for politicians appearing on Saturday Night Live. Hillary Clinton did it with Amy Poehler back in 2008, but it's the fact that Donald Trump did it with Jimmy Fallon in 2015 that had most Harris supporters up in arms.

Many felt that SNL took a lazy approach with the sketch, despite taking the time to actually get Harris on the set. Some castigated the SNL writers for not doing something more inventive, but the majority of the Harris fanbase was simply annoyed by the fact that they had her do the same exact thing her opponent did a decade earlier.

Kamala Harris' cameo led to an 'Equal Time' debate

It's also worth noting that Fallon has participated in similar mirror skits involving Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger and politician Mitt Romney. Naturally, the Trump comparison is going to be the one that grabs the most headlines, but this has proven to be a tried and true format for both SNL and Jimmy Fallon's own shows.

If the backlash wasn't already had enough, the senior Republican commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission questioned the legality of Harris' appearance in the first place. He deemed it a "clear and blatant effort" to evade the Equal Time rule, which decrees that opposing candidates should get the same amount of air time on a program.

This Equal Time rule was the initial reason Lorne Michaels avoided featuring presidential nominees during season 50. It's unclear what changed, but based on the negative feedback that the skit with Harris received, it may not have been worth the effort.