NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani hasn’t given up his dream to appear on “Saturday Night Live.”
Now we are hearing that after being rebuffed, Mamdani’s circle is still lobbying, but they are using a different approach — with close pals and confidants putting in a good word with Michaels.
“Its a whisper campaign,” says our source. “Mamdani isn’t asking directly, its more clandestine. People who know the Mayor are mentioning it to Lorne and others at NBC.”
We’re told Hizzoner’s “lifelong dream is to be on ‘SNL.’”
Perhaps he should have stuck with his rap career as Mr. Cardamom, though we are not sure how well his lyrics praising convicted terror-funding group the Holy Land Five would go over with televisions Standards and Practices.
A rep for SNL tells us “This is not true. Nothing has come our way.”
A source close to Mamdani tells us “that there has been no formal ask made.”
The show is currently on summer hiatus until late September or October.
The role went to Ramy Youssef, who portrayed the democratic socialist during an election sketch on Nov. 1, 2025, alongside Miles Teller as Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Shane Gillis as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani took so much joy in the impersonation, he posted clips and video of himself laughing with Yussef on FaceTime while the comic was still in costume.
“Live from New York’ I got roasted by,” Mamdani posted on his social media.
A source told us at the time that Michaels was open to meeting the mayor, just off the air.
“Lorne is happy to meet with Mayor Mamdani,” a source close to the SNL big told us.t
Several politicians have been on the show in the past including NYC mayor Ed Koch and former mayor Rudy Giuliani. Donald Trump hosted twice and Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton made cameos.
A new FCC Equal Time Rule — which requires broadcast stations to give equal opportunities to candidates for the same office — could make it harder for the show to have politicians on.
