Mayor Zoran Mamdani was about to appear on New York’s most famous sketch show. The inexperienced politician could have shown off his improvisational skills somewhere other than City Hall.
Sources told Page Six that Mamdani’s campaign encouraged him to appear on “Saturday Night Live” during the campaign. But one source says head honcho Lorne Michaels didn’t bite.
“Mamdani was considered, but in the end, for creative reasons, a comedian was chosen instead,” a source told Page Six.
Ramy Youssef ended up playing a democratic socialist in a skit about the November 1, 2025 New York mayoral debate. Also starring Miles Teller as former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and comedian Shane Gillis as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Later, while the comic was still in costume, Mamdani posted clips and videos on FaceTime of him and Yousef laughing about the eerie resemblance.
Mamdani posted on his social media, “Excited about “Live from New York.”
“There was talk of hiring Sliwa, Cuomo and Mamdani, but not necessarily the same,” the person said. “There’s always talk of using people who are in the news.”
It looks like the door is still open for Michaels to appear in a real-world off-air cameo.
A source close to the SNL giant said, “Mr. Lone is pleased to meet Mayor Mamdani.”
I hear that Mamdani has not appeared on the pitch since he was elected, but the team may use him as a musical guest. His 2010s rap career as Mr. Cardamom, which included songs praising the convicted terror-financing group Holyland Five, never took off.
Ed Koch, the longtime mayor of New York, hosted the show in 1983 and co-hosted it again in May 1984. In November 1997, Rudy Giuliani hosted and appeared after the 9/11 attacks.
Donald Trump has also hosted the show twice. Once in 2004, at the height of “The Apprentice,” and again in November 2015, when he was running for his first term as president.
We’re hearing that the era of political cameos, like Kamala Harris appearing as a Maya Rudolph impersonator or Hillary Clinton appearing alongside Kate McKinnon, could become even more difficult due to new FCC equal time rules that require broadcasters to give equal opportunity to candidates for the same position.
The rules came into effect on January 21, 2026, after Mamdani was elected president in November.
An SNL spokesperson declined to comment on guest booking. A spokesperson for Mr. Mamdani could not be reached.
