'Saturday Night Live' has debuted its new cast of political characters. Here's who is playing who.

<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg on "Saturday Night Live."NBC/Getty Images</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>"Saturday Night Live" premiered its 50th season on NBC.</li><li>The cast portrayed leading political figures during the episode.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/saturday-night-live">"Saturday Night Live"</a> began its 50th season lampooning the upcoming US presidential election. There was a lot of material from which to draw.</p><p>The cameras were rolling live in 30 Rockefeller Plaza's studio 8H as former and current cast members tackled the <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harris-trump-presidential-election-50-days-vance-walz-electoral-math-2024-9">2024 presidential race</a> and two of the biggest scandals of the election season.</p><p>The sketch comedy series has long influenced American politics and has been a key stop on the campaign trail for many candidates, including Vermont Sen. <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-joins-larry-david-snl-saturday-night-live-2016-2">Bernie Sanders</a>. </p><p>Research published in 2012 found that <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/snl-palin-bachmann-trump-debate-video-2011-5">Tina Fey's portrayal of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin</a> may have even influenced the public's perception of her before the 2008 presidential election, according to The Washington Post.</p><p>Fans of the show had wondered who its producer, Lorne Michaels, would tap to play some of the key political roles.</p><p>Here's who's playing who this year.</p>