Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is set to host NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on November 7.
This will be the businessman’s second time hosting the network’s iconic sketch show — he first hosted in 2004, while serving as the host of the NBC reality show “The Apprentice.”
The Donald’s relationship with SNL is unique and long-running. He and his wife Melania walked the red carpet at SNL’s 40th anniversary show in February.
He’s also been a consistent character — played by some of the show’s most famous cast members — for more than two decades, even before his career in television and shift to politics. During the late 1980s, Phil Hartman was the first cast member to regularly play Trump. Darrell Hammond played Trump for more than a decade, and Taran Killam took the reins this season.
Trump’s adult children and all three of his wives have been characters on the show as well.
During his last hosting gig, Trump embraced SNL’s portrayal by endorsing Hammond’s performance during his opening monologue. He went on to play himself in a few sketches, living up to the out of touch, ratings-crazed, power-hungry, borderline-delusional character that the show’s audience had come to expect.
While most major presidential candidates and political figures are lampooned by the show’s cast, it’s rarer for politicians to play themselves. President George H.W. Bush appeared on the show after leaving office, then-Senator Barack Obama made a cameo during the 2008 campaign cycle, and current Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton played a bartender on the show last month.