This Saturday’s episode of Saturday Night Live with Donald Trump taking on hosting duties is unquestionably the show’s most anticipated episode of the season. It won’t be Trump’s first time on SNL, but when he stopped by to host in 2004, he was just the a loudmouth billionaire who hosted a cheesy reality show. Now he’s the loudmouth billionaire who might become the next President of the United States. Big difference.
He’ll be following in a long tradition of politicians who have stopped by SNL to try their hand at comedy, dating back to President Gerald Ford dropping in to confront his impersonator Chevy Chase. From the perspective of the candidates, it’s a surefire way to drum up publicity and show the voting public that you can take a joke – or at least appear like you can.
In preparation for Trump’s return to SNL, here’s your chronological history of all the presidential hopefuls who have dropped in on Studio 8H.
Ralph Nader: Jan. 15, 1977 and Oct. 10, 2000
Ralph Nader first appeared on SNL just a year after its debut in January of 1977 (this was also Bill Murray’s very first time on the show). The independent candidate would later return to the show when he made a run for the White House in 2000, stopping by to chat with the night’s host Rob Lowe backstage.
George McGovern: Apr. 14, 1984
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Poor George McGovern, he lost the election to Richard Nixon in 1972 and failed to capture the Democratic nomination in 1984. On the plus side, he got to open SNL with a monologue just a month after he ended his campaign. McGovern was in good spirits about taking the hosting gig after his defeat and joked, “Ever since I agreed to host Saturday Night Live, people have been saying to me ‘Why?’ Frankly, I need the money.”
Jesse Jackson: Oct. 20, 1984
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The one-time Democratic hopeful opened the show back in 1984 and praised the show for its diverse workforce, commenting on the black technicians working in the control room. The gag, of course, was that as soon as he stepped out of the control room, the black technicians were removed and replaced with white workers.
Steve Forbes: Apr. 13, 1996
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When it comes to politicians appearing on SNL, they tend to opt for a cameo before dropping out and take on full hosting duties once they’re White House dreams have been dashed. Such was the case with editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, Steve Forbes who had just pulled out of the race for the Republican nomination. Forbes’ comedy chops weren’t exactly anything special, though. In fact, the coolest thing about this episode was that Rage Against the Machine was the musical guest and were booted from the building before they could perform their second song.
George Pataki: Jan. 13, 1996
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George Pataki might not be grabbing as many headlines as some of the other candidates, but he’s still running for president and did appear on SNL once, so he makes the list. The one-time Governor of New York appeared with then-New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani to address New Yorkers facing the harsh blizzard of 1996. The highlight of Pataki’s short appearance came when he and Giuliani argued over who got to deliver the show’s iconic opening line.
Rudy Giuliani: 1996, 1997, 2001, 2008
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Former Presidential candidate and former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani has appeared on SNL four different times; more than any other politician on this list. Rudy’s most notable appearance came when SNL returned to the air after the 9/11 attacks, and provided the show’s first joke of the evening when Lorne Michaels asked, “Can we be funny?’ and Giuliani quipped, “Why start now?”
Bob Dole: Nov. 16, 1996
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While Darrell Hammond’s Bill Clinton impersonation was always a highlight of the show, it would have been pretty sweet if we’d gotten four years of Norm Macdonald rolling out his Bob Dole shtick. Alas, it was never meant to be, and Dole himself stopped by to console the cast member that he’d have to retire the character, telling Norm, “Bob Dole feels your pain.”
John McCain: Oct. 19, 2002 and May 17 and Nov. 1, 2008
McCain first hosted the show in 2002 and later returned just days before the 2008 election, stopping by the Weekend Update desk to urge voters to send him to the White House. The plea didn’t work, but McCain wasn’t done with Studio 8H and returned again that year to appear in a QVC sketch with Tina Fey, joking that he can’t afford air time on the networks, so he has to shell out steak knives to get his message across.
Al Gore: Dec. 14, 2002
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The 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore spawned some of the show’s best political sketches. (Darrell Hammond’s droll “lockbox” has to be one of the funniest single-word punchlines.) Gore was in good spirits about the ribbing he took from the show, even joking about all the free time he now had when he later hosted the show with musical guest Phish in 2002. The politician and environmentalist would of course later hone his comedy chops with two appearances on 30 Rock.
Barack Obama: Nov. 7, 2007
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At the time of his SNL appearance, the now Commander-in-Chief was a U.S. Senator going up against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Obama shows up at the Clinton’s Halloween party wearing one of the terrible masks of his face that were so popular that year. Obama quips that he’s simply comfortable in his own skin and less than a year later, he won the election.
Mike Huckabee: Feb. 28, 2008
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Even when the polls were showing that it was a “mathematical impossibility” for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to win the Republican nomination, he refused to back out of the race. Huckabee stopped by the Weekend Update desk to address the issue and still refused to back down, telling Seth Meyers, “I’m not a math guy.”
Sarah Palin: Oct. 18, 2008
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Sarah Palin may not have been the funniest politician to appear on the show, but her interaction with Alec Baldwin and the way she sidled up to Tina Fey were some of that season’s most memorable moments, and her appearance gave SNL the highest ratings it had seen in a decade.
Chris Christie: Nov. 17, 2012
Unlike many of the other politicians on this list, Chris Christie wasn’t even running for president when he stopped by the Weekend Update desk in 2012, though he likely had White House dreams spinning in his head and knew this would help get his name out there. The Governor gave Seth Meyers an update on how New Jersey citizens were coping with Hurricane Sandy and ended his segment with a lyric from his bff Bruce Springsteen.
Hillary Clinton: Mar. 1, 2008 and Oct. 3, 2015
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Hillary Clinton’s probably had more SNL cast members impersonate her than any other politician in the show’s history. Jan Hooks, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Vanessa Bayer, and now Kate McKinnon have all donned a Hillary pantsuit at one time or another. The Democratic nominee hopeful first stopped by the show in 2008 and most recently played a bartender in this season’s premiere episode to great acclaim. Will the critics be as kind to her possible general election opponent after this week’s episode? We’ll see.
