Dave Chappelle hosted Saturday Night Live‘s first episode following Joe Biden‘s presidential win, and incorporated a stand-up monologue into the episode to celebrate Donald Trump‘s loss and discuss the racial divide in America since his election.
Chapelle opens up his monologue by talking about race in modern America, joking not only about the racism he’s experienced but also the white communities that perpetrate it. He compares slavery to racial discrimination in the media, thanks COVID for ending mass shootings by white people, and criticizes poor white people for not only their racism but also “holding [America] back.” Then, Chappelle switches gears to comment on the Trump presidency, following up on his performance as host four years ago, just after Trump was elected. He makes several jokes about Trump’s incompetency, particularly in relation to how he handled the coronavirus crisis. Chappelle then ends his monologue by encouraging America to find unity again.
The reception to Chappelle’s stand-up was largely positive.
“Last night’s SNL should have just been one 90-minute @DaveChappelle monologue,” Frank Luntz wrote on Twitter.
“Brilliant! Truthful! Tough love,” another user praised his appearance.
In particular, SNL fans seemed to appreciate the last part of Chappelle’s segment, where he spoke genuinely about reuniting America.
“Extraordinary ending to Dave Chapelle’s monologue on SNL,” a user wrote, posting a minute and a half long clip of Chapelle’s closing notes. The video clip has received over two million views and counting after being re-shared by hundreds of other users.
The only part of the speech that was poorly received was a joke Chappelle made comparing coronavirus to AIDS as part of his larger tirade about Trump.
“Trump getting coronavirus was like when Freddie Mercury got AIDS,” Chappelle said. “Nobody was like, ‘well how did he get it?'”
Because Chappelle has a history of making similar statements but denying his homophobia and transphobia onstage, the bit stood out to many on Twitter.
“Had a bit of a tough day, crawled into bed to see @nbcsnl not only reviving AIDS jokes, but finding fun in Freddie Mercury’s contraction of the disease,” LGBT+ activist Andrew Keates tweeted. “I’m HIV+, Freddie is one of my/our heroes and this joke hurts.”
The skits that followed, “Uncle Ben” and “DC Morning,” featured Chappelle and similarly put a comedic spin on race and Trump’s refusal to concede. Watch both full skits below.
“DC Morning”
