SNL alum says Harris appearance 'would have never' happened in 'kinder, gentler' old days of show's history
The climate surrounding "Saturday Night Live" was different back in the day, comedian Joe Piscopo told FOX Business' Neil Cavuto on Monday.
"I was the guy appointed and anointed to do Ronald Reagan and, at the time, I was a diehard Democrat, but it was nicer back then. It was kinder, and it was gentler," the SNL alum said.
"He [Reagan] would have never shown up," he continued, referencing Vice President Kamala Harris' last-minute appearance on the show over the weekend.
"In reverse… he invited me down to the White House, and I really honestly believe that it went from Nancy Reagan to Frank Sinatra to me to go down to the White House, and I got to meet Ronald Reagan, and that changed my whole political outlook."
NBC FILES EQUAL TIME NOTICE FOR HARRIS' SNL CAMEO FOLLOWING BACKLASH
"But, back in the day, they didn't come in [the studio]. I would've absolutely loved that, if Ronald Reagan walked in the studio, but that was just unheard of on 'Saturday Night Live’ at the time," the comedian, who served as a cast member from 1980-1984, explained.
The late night comedy show has been circulating widely in the news since Vice President Harris appeared opposite her parodied self, portrayed by Maya Rudolph, and made conservatives fume about a potential FCC violation after NBC allegedly dishonored the "equal time" rule for candidates.
The network has since aired an election ad by former President Trump during NASCAR and NFL coverage amid the uproar, with a source familiar with the issue telling The Hollywood Reporter the move was NBC's way of giving the campaign equal time.
Piscopo, now a political Independent, said he would never have considered voting Republican at the time of his four-year term on SNL.
"Republicans were the bad guys back then, I remember. That was the mindset and then… I did an almost, a really, a whole satirical look on Ronald Reagan, how I thought he was taking the country in the wrong direction, and my executive producer killed it," he said.
"He thought it was too political. How about that? Because it was like it wasn't balanced enough. Nowadays, the Democrats just go over there and they do it. But I understand that my conservative friends get so upset because they go, 'Look at what they're doing on SNL.' It's always been like that. I was like that."