Hillary Clinton, this sort of under-the-radar presidential hopeful you probably haven’t read much about lately, has more exciting weekend plans than the rest of us. She’ll be making an appearance on Saturday Night Live, where she will likely continue her efforts to highlight her sense of humor and all-around game attitude.
Though no confirmation has come down from the actual Clinton campaign (apparently this upcoming cameo was not discussed in her now-public emails from her Secretary of State days) and a spokesperson for NBC did not comment, the New York Times is reporting that Clinton will meet Kate McKinnon, the SNL cast member who currently impersonates her. Clinton should be swinging by during the cold open, in which McKinnon will reportedly appear.
How important is this charm offensive? Clinton “turned down the chance to give the keynote address to the influential Human Rights Campaign, the country’s most powerful lesbian and gay rights group” in order to be the first of the approximately 8,253 people running for president to grace the SNL stages in this 2016 campaign.
This marks yet another effort from Clinton to present herself as funny and easy-going, coming on the heels of a much-publicized interview with Lena Dunham and visits to The Ellen Degeneres Show and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where she did her best Donald Trump impression.
Clinton has appeared on SNL before; in 2008, when Amy Poehler impersonated her, Clinton showed up — a surprise to viewers, unlike, alas, this weekend’s cameo — by Poehler’s side during a skit about the way the media was enchanted by Barack Obama.
McKinnon’s take on Clinton is a woman on a mission, so obsessed with landing in the Oval Office that she can’t soften her harsh edges or appear even remotely calm on camera; when told by a staffer, played by Vanessa Bayer, to “look natural,” McKinnon’s Clinton bares her teeth and snarls, “Citizens, you WILL elect me! I will be your leader!”
For her part, while discussing her role as Clinton, McKinnon told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year, “I’m rooting for her, obviously. It’s a combination of the writers’ take on her but also this contrast between a woman so driven and hardened by her experiences — She needs this! The country needs this! — and this sweetie granny from the Midwest. The juxtaposition.” She added that she would be “nervous” to meet Clinton: “I find her so resplendent!”