Dave Chappelle tackles Trump, Kanye, cancel culture, and 'sore loser' Democrats in 'SNL' monologue, gets accused of spreading 'antisemitic dog whistles'
Legendary comedian Dave Chappelle hosted "Saturday Night Live" this week and gave his one-of-a-kind take on some notable individuals who have recently been making headlines. The stand-up comedian opined on former President Donald Trump, Kanye West, antisemitism, and "sore loser" Democrats.
This is the third time that Chappelle has hosted "SNL," and it came only days after the 2022 midterm elections. Chappelle's previous hosting appearances came days after the 2020 presidential election and a few days after the 2016 election.
Dave Chappelle explains why Donald Trump is so popular
With politics being in the minds of many, Chappelle weighed in and said he doesn't believe the Trump era is over. He explained to the liberal "Saturday Night Live" audience why Donald Trump is beloved by many Americans.
Chappelle labeled Trump an "honest liar," and said people in his home state of Ohio have never seen anything like Trump.
Chappelle was blown away by Trump's debate performance against Democrat Hillary Clinton. The comedian said during the debate against Clinton, a "star was born" in Trump.
That first debate. That first debate. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen a white male billionaire screaming at the top of his lungs. “This whole system is rigged,” he said, and across the stage was white woman Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sitting over there looking at him like, ‘No it’s no.” I said, "Wait a minute, bro." Trump said, “I know the system is rigged, because I use it." I said, "God damn!" And then he pulled out an Illuminati membership card and did a line of cocaine … Nobody had ever heard someone say something that true. And then Hillary Clinton tried to punch him with the taxes. “This man doesn’t pay his taxes.” And he shot right back, “That makes me smart.” And then he said, “If you want me to pay my taxes then change the tax code, but I know you won’t, because your friends and your donors enjoy the same tax breaks that I do.” And with that, my friends, a star was born.
Chappelle said, "The Democrats are sore losers. I’m a Democrat and I’m telling you as soon as he won, they started saying all that he’s colluding with Russia.
He added without evidence, "It was very embarrassing as a Democrat but as time went on, we all came to learn he was probably colluding with Russia."
Chappelle joked about allegations that Trump took classified documents to Mar-a-Largo.
"I’ve been fired from jobs many times in my life and I will be very honest with you. Sometimes when I was fired, I stole things from the office. Staplers, computer mouse, all kinds of stuff," Chappelle said. "But you know what I never stole from work? Work."
Chappelle weighs in on Kanye West
During his 15-minute monologue, Chappelle poked fun at Kanye West for not apologizing for his comments regarding Jewish people.
Chappelle walked onto the stage at 30 Rock with a folded-up piece of paper. He then jokingly read, "I wanted to read a statement I prepared: I renounce antisemitism in all its forms and stand with my friends in the Jewish community. And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time."
Chappelle remarked, "I've been to Hollywood and this is what I saw. It’s a lot of Jews, it’s a lot. But that doesn’t mean anything. There’s a lot of black people in Ferguson, Missouri, but that doesn’t mean we run the place."
Chappelle said, "I gotta tell you guys, I’ve probably been doing this for 35 years now, and early in my career, I learned that there are two words in the English language that you should never say together in sequence and those words are: "The" and "Jews." Never heard someone do good after they say that."
"He said, 'I can say antisemitic things. And Adidas can’t drop me.' Adidas dropped that [expletive] immediately," Chappelle said of Kanye. "Ironically, Adidas was founded by Nazis and they were offended. The student has surpassed the teacher."
Chappelle continued, "It was a big deal. He broke the show business rules. You know, because it’s a rule, the rule of perception. If they’re black, then it’s a gang, if they’re Italians a mob, but if they’re Jewish, it’s a coincidence and you should never speak about it."
Chappelle joked, "Kanye got in so much trouble, Kyrie got in trouble." He also asserted that it is possible that NBA star Kyrie Irving could be a Holocaust denier.
Chappelle is concerned about cancel culture
The comedian concluded, "It shouldn’t be this scary to talk about anything. It’s made my job incredibly difficult, and to be honest with you, I’m getting incredibly sick of talking to a crowd like this."
"I love you to death, and I thank you for your support," he said. "And I hope they don’t take anything away from me. Whoever they are."
Reactions to Dave Chappelle's monologue
However, some reactions on Twitter blasted Chappelle's monologue as "antisemitic."
The Jerusalem Post: "American comedian Dave Chappelle said during his SNL monologue that he 'denounces antisemitism in all its forms'... before promptly engaging in antisemitic tropes."
The Times of Israel: "On SNL, Dave Chappelle mocks Kanye’s antisemitism while dancing along similar lines."
Screenwriter Amalia Levari: "So cool that SNL gave Chappelle the stage to deliver a TED Talk about how antisemitic dog-whistles are good, actually."
Editor Marlow Stern: "That chappelle snl monologue... pretty antisemitic! not surprising though given his whole 'Space Jews' bit from 'The Closer.'"
You can watch Dave Chappelle's entire "SNL" monologue below.
(WARNING: Explicit language)
Dave Chappelle Stand-Up Monologue - SNL www.youtube.com