President George W. Bush won Florida in 2000 by 537 votes.
Setting aside the U.S. Supreme Court and the Palm Beach County butterfly ballots — in a race that close, any number of factors could have persuaded just enough voters to go one way or another, and ultimately determine the presidency.
So there is an argument that Darrell Hammond’s brutal impression of Vice President Al Gore on Saturday Night Live, portraying him as stiff and unlikeable after the 2000 debates, could have swayed the outcome.
In recent decades, comedians like Tina Fey have become merged in the minds of many with the politicians they roasted, like then-vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in 2008.
And beyond SNL, Key and Peele’s “anger translator” bit helped define President Barack Obama’s aloof coolness.
These days, a lot of the most incisive political comedy — and the best impressions — aren’t happening on TV. They’re happening on TikTok and Instagram.
So how much could impressions and satire shift voters, if at all? And how do the comedians think about their role?
Ahead of Tuesday night’s debate between former President Trump and Vice President Harris, All Things Considered host Scott Detrow put these questions to two of the most prominent political impressionists out there — Matt Friend, who’s become famous for his impression of Trump, and Allison Reese, who’s gone viral for her portrayal of Harris.
These interviews have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Matt Friend — aka Donald Trump
Scott Detrow: It’s very unfunny to ask deep questions about comedy, but here we are. Why do you think people are so drawn to impressions; political impressions, especially?
Matt Friend: You know, I think especially in America, there’s such a rich history of it and a great tradition of it. And I think it kind of shows truth to power in a way that maybe other forms of comedy just don’t. We’re seeing alternate representations of people that we might like or people that we might not like. And obviously, with SNL amplifying it in the ‘70s, I think people obviously went crazy when Chevy Chase was doing it. And then even before that, like there was Rich Little and then Vaughn Meader is a famous one and he did a JFK impression and he looked exactly like JFK and that was his whole thing.
Detrow: Is it fair to say that Trump haters and people who like Trump kind of like your stuff just as much? Or do you think your mentions are one sided or another?
Friend: I think that everybody’s commenting on it. And now an interesting thing is happening where if I do an impression of him, there are some people that say like, “You’re too left” or, “You’re too woke” — and all I’m doing is repeating exactly what he’s saying. And they’d say, “This is offensive, this portrayal.” I’m like, no, he actually just called this person a dog. Or he actually just said that Kamala Harris decided to become Black six years ago.
But ideally I can make the whole country laugh. I mean, I like to think that I can poke fun at all sides.
Detrow: So we’re talking right before the debates, and I feel like historically the debates are quite the opportunity for impressionists. How are you thinking about it for what you do? And are there any classic debate related things that were some of your favorites?
Friend: You know, it’s so interesting because I’m just so consumed with creating every day. So like, this is not a different moment, just that there’s more eyeballs on it. You know, more people are paying attention in this specific political moment. But I’m just going to be creating videos and comedy and content like I always do. But obviously there’s a lot of opportunity here. So we’re going to see how this debate goes.
I mean, we’ll see if there’s another Trump circling moment, like when he was circling Hillary, as if it was Jaws — I think that was a funny SNL parody, they put the Jaws music on there.
Whether it was Bush, I think he’s the one who checked his watch. Or obviously the, “You’re no Jack Kennedy.” There’s so many legendary quips and things to point to.
Allison Reese — aka Kamala Harris
Detrow: How much do you focus on accuracy, or the vibe of just going for a funny situation?
Allison Reese: I would hope that it’s an even split. I want the accuracy, of course, but I find impressions are so fun when you add your own flavor to it. And I add a lot of my own flavor, a lot of my own sassiness and my own quirks to it. A lot of the stuff I say is stuff I’m sure she would never say.
Detrow: There’s been moments where a high profile impression of a political figure almost overtakes them and clearly influenced the way people think about them. And on one hand, you have Donald Trump, who people have been doing impressions of for, like, 40 years at this point. But one of the interesting things about Harris is even though she’s been vice president, there’s a lot of Americans who are kind of still forming an opinion of her. How do you think about that when you’re putting your material together?
Reese: I think about it a lot, to be honest. I mean, I know that comedy has a really powerful influence on folks and tends to have a hold and is a way that people can retain information better, in fact.
So it is not lost on me, the gravity of me doing an impression of her and how it will be in people’s minds and voters’ minds. I don’t know that anybody who is going to make a decision based off of an impression is, you know, any sort of a thing to look at. But it’s not lost on me that that is important. And I’ve taken a lot into consideration with that. And it’s just so funny because satire really wants to put a mirror up to our society and culture.
Detrow: Do you ever think about whether Vice President Harris has seen your videos?
Reese: I do think about that all the time. I used to have nightmares where she would be there. I’d be like, “Oh, my God, it’s Kamala Harris!” And she would see me and go, “Oh God, it’s you.” And then like she’d be like “Come on, Doug, let’s go. It’s that girl.”
But I hope she’s seen it, and I know that folks on her staff have seen it and they really like it. So I’m like, OK, that probably is good. Also, being an artist, you want to have that space a bit when you’re impersonating somebody just to keep it pure as well as, like, honest and respectful.
Transcript:
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
President George W. Bush won Florida in 2000 by 537 votes – 537 votes, setting aside the U.S. Supreme Court and the Palm Beach County butterfly ballots and everything else, 537 votes, which means any number of factors could have persuaded just enough voters to go one way or another and determine the presidency. So there’s an argument…
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”)
DARRELL HAMMOND: (As Al Gore) My plan, Jim, is different.
DETROW: …That Darrell Hammond’s brutal impression of Vice President Al Gore on “Saturday Night Live” after the 2000 debates could have swayed the outcome. Sure, many people remember Will Ferrell’s Bush…
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”)
WILL FERRELL: (As George W. Bush) Strategery (ph).
DETROW: …But Hammond’s Gore was a stiff, unlikable bore. And it was so good, it just about overtook the actual debate in many voters’ minds.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”)
HAMMOND: (As Al Gore) You may think you know the location of the lockbox.
(LAUGHTER)
HAMMOND: (As Al Gore) And maybe you do. Or maybe that’s a decoy or a dummy lockbox.
DETROW: By exaggerating mannerisms and riffing on real quotes to turn them into jokes and bits, impressionists can often get closer to the true essence of a politician than the politician themselves. In recent decades, comedians like Tina Fey have become merged in many voters’ minds with the politicians they roasted, like then-vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in 2008.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”)
TINA FEY: (As Sarah Palin) And I can see Russia from my house.
DETROW: These days, the most incisive political comedy and the best impressions aren’t happening on TV. They’re happening on TikTok and Instagram. So ahead of this week’s big debate between former President Trump and Vice President Harris, we called up two of the top impressionists out there – Matt Friend, who does Trump, and Allison Reese, who pokes fun at Harris. We started with Friend. I mean, we kind of started with Trump.
All right. So Mr. President, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. And I just…
MATT FRIEND: (Imitating Donald Trump) Well, thank you very much, Scott. Thank you very much.
DETROW: You hung up on us last time.
FRIEND: (Imitating Donald Trump) Well, you know, Scott, this is a nasty broadcast. It’s a national publication. They’re horrible people. You’re woke mob. I will tell you that it’s remarkably biased. The news is not what it used to be. I talked to Walter Cronkite last week – he’s a friend of mine. We golf together. And we were talking about it. It’s just so sad, the state of the media.
DETROW: I think a lot of listeners have probably picked up that I’m not actually talking to Donald Trump right now. I’m talking to comedian/impressionist Matt Friend. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
FRIEND: That just took me over. Thanks for having me – excited to be here.
DETROW: Why do you think people are so drawn to impressions – political impressions, especially?
FRIEND: You know, I think, especially in America, there’s such, like, a rich history of it and a great tradition of it. And I think it kind of shows truth to power in a way that maybe other forms of comedy just don’t.
DETROW: Yeah.
FRIEND: We’re seeing actual sort of alternate representations of people that we might like or people that we might not like. And it’s just a fun thing, like, not even to get too deep, but just fun to see what others might sound like.
DETROW: Is it fair to say that Trump haters and people who like Trump kind of like your stuff just as much, or do you think your mentions are one-sided or another?
FRIEND: I think that everybody is commenting on it. Now an interesting thing is happening where if I do an impression of him, there’s some people that say, like, you’re too left, or you’re too woke. And all I’m doing is repeating exactly what he’s saying. I mean, (laughter) it’s like – I’m just taking exactly what he said, but ideally, I can make the whole country laugh.
DETROW: You do go in a lot of different directions.
FRIEND: Yes.
DETROW: I particularly like your Ron DeSantis. You do McConnell, Obama, Bernie Sanders. How do you go like, oh, that’s somebody I’m going to work on? Like, how does somebody make your set list?
FRIEND: You know, I just look at who’s popular, like who people are talking about in the news. I was watching Chuck Grassley during the Kavanaugh hearings, and I liked when he would go, (imitating Chuck Grassley) Senator Leahy, we’re going to be motioning to the floor now. Senator Leahy…
I’m convinced Grassley is still calling for Senator Leahy somewhere in his house. (Imitating Chuck Grassley) Senator Leahy, I’m going in the shower. Senator Leahy…
And then McConnell, obviously, he’s freezing. So (imitating Mitch McConnell) I have to just do a little Mitch. That’s very fun to do, and he’s got very specific vocal pattern.
But I don’t – I just kind of look at who people are talking about, and then I try to make something happen.
DETROW: It does seem like you actually like politics. Is that fair?
FRIEND: I do. I do. I’m very interested in it. I’m pulling out some great references here, not Googling them. It’s all in my head.
DETROW: That’s comedian and impressionist Matt Friend. And Matt, I wanted to end – if you can channel Trump one more time, if there’s anything you want to directly say to Vice President Harris ahead of the debate.
FRIEND: (Imitating Donald Trump) Well, well, first of all, I will tell you that it’s been one of the worst honors of my life to be on the failing NPR. But I will tell you that Kamala is a real threat. She’s a danger. We are going to destroy her. We’re going to make this country great, and we’re all going to be bing-bong, very happy. So thank you very much.
DETROW: And I think it’s only fair to get a response from the vice president, Kamala Harris, to that statement. So floor is yours.
ALLISON REESE: (Imitating Kamala Harris) Yeah, I heard you, Donald Trump, OK? And that was more unhinged than a door hanging off the frame (laughter). And in the context of what he’s saying is a lot of lies – OK? – a lot of stuff that just isn’t true. I’m dangerous? Honey (laughter), look in the mirror, OK? Just look in the mirror. You’ll find the danger. (Laughter) Got him.
DETROW: And this is comedian Allison Reese, who is probably one of the most prominent Kamala Harris impersonators out there. Welcome. Welcome to the show.
REESE: Thank you so much for having me.
DETROW: I’m really looking forward to talking to you, and I want to start with – I’m wondering what you start with when you are thinking of how to channel the Kamala Harris that you do. Like, a lot of people are drawn to the laugh. Is that what you think about first, or how do you build it out?
REESE: I mean, that is kind of – the laugh is like my North Star as of late. That is kind of what I start with when I’m like, all right, time to get into Kamala. It’s either the laugh or like a – (imitating Kamala Harris) OK, all right, let’s go.
And just kind of getting into it.
DETROW: You know, one of the things that we were thinking about with the story is the way that there’s been moments where a high-profile impression of a political figure, of public figure has kind of, like, almost overtaken them and clearly influenced the way people think about them. Do you think about that at all when you’re putting your material together? I mean, I know you said to The New York Times that you’re trying to be funny, but you’re also trying to be intentional and thoughtful. How do you think about this?
REESE: I think about it a lot, to be honest. I mean, I know that comedy has a really powerful influence on folks and tends to have a hold and is a way that people can retain information better, in fact. So it is not lost on me, the gravity of me doing an impression of her and how it will be in people’s minds and like, voters’ minds. I mean, I don’t know that anybody who is going to make a decision based off of an impression is, you know, any sort of thing to look at. But…
DETROW: (Laughter) That was polite.
REESE: …It’s not lost on me, that that is important. And I’ve taken a lot into consideration with that.
DETROW: Do you ever think about whether Vice President Harris has seen your videos?
REESE: You know, I do think about that all the time.
(LAUGHTER)
REESE: I used to have bad dreams where she would be there, and I’d be like, oh, my God, it’s Kamala Harris. And she would see me and go, ugh, God, it’s you – and be like – roll her eyes, and be like, ugh, come on, Doug, let’s go. It’s that girl. But I hope she’s seen it. I know that folks on her staff have seen it, and they really like it. So I’m like, OK, that probably is good. Also, like, you know, being an artist, you want to have that space a bit when you’re…
DETROW: Yeah.
REESE: …Impersonating somebody just to keep it pure, as well as, like, honest and respectful. And – yeah.
DETROW: That’s comedian Allison Reese. Thank you so much.
REESE: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
