Saturday Night Live is known for its celebrity impersonations, especially the political impersonations. Since the beginning, the late-night variety sketch series has kept the country informed on politics in a very unique way, and that hasn’t stopped on the 2025 TV schedule, including when it comes to James Austin Johnson’s scary-good impression of President Donald Trump. As the election for New York City mayor approached, SNL hopped on the bandwagon and brought out some big guns for the cold open in Saturday’s episode, which included Ramy Youssef as candidate Zohran Mamdani. And the actual Mamdani had quite the reaction.
Sketches for Season 51 have been a hit or a miss so far, but this one wasn't so bad. In anticipation of the most-talked-about mayoral election this year, SNL’s latest cold open brought on host Miles Teller as Andrew Cuomo, Shane Gillis as Curtis Sliwa, and Youssef as Mamdani. Via NBC New York, while campaigning around the city, Mamdani was asked what he thought of the SNL sketch, and he took it like an absolute champ:
You know, I really have to give it to them, because they had the rings, they had the watch, they had everything. And I think, you know, it is a joy to join my assembly colleague, Harvey Epstein, in the pantheon of being on SNL. And I think we deserve to have leaders who can laugh at themselves a little. And I look forward to being one of those.
A lot of celebrities and politicians who have been impersonated on SNL don’t mind it, and have even appeared on the show alongside the cast member impersonating them, such as Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton with Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler, respectively. Whether or not Zohran will ever be one of those politicians to appear alongside their SNL counterpart is unknown, but it seems like he quite enjoyed being impersonated and was equally impressed that they got all the details down to a “T.”
Harris previously shared her thoughts on Rudolph’s impression of her leading up to the 2024 Presidential Election, praising her for how wonderful she’s been doing. Just like Mamdani, Harris also pointed out how important it is to just laugh at yourself, and considering she ended up making a surprise appearance in the final episode before the election, her sentiment was as true as ever. As mentioned, she’s not the first one to appear alongside her counterpart, but it was still a fun surprise.
As for the actual impression, it was a pleasant surprise seeing Ramy Youssef doing the honors. The comedian and Golden Globe nominee only appeared on SNL one other time: when he hosted in March 2024. Obviously, the writers knew that no one could pull off Zohran Mamdani better than him, and they were right. The impersonation was uncanny, and I’m glad Mamdani can truly appreciate it in all its glory.
Youssef’s future on SNL as Mamdani will likely depend on the outcome of the election on Tuesday, but at the very least, Mamdani seems as satisfied as ever with how he was portrayed on the show in one of the many political sketches the show has done. And now he’s joined a growing list of politicians that have been impersonated, and he’s one of the several who absolutely enjoy it. Fans can rewatch the SNL episode now with a Peacock subscription or see the sketch in full on YouTube to see just how well Youssef did.
