Dave Chappelle set the internet on fire this week, first by criticizing Hillary Clinton as “not right” in his stand-up act and then clarifying that he is definitely “not a Trump supporter.”
The stand-up comedian did not hesitate to address the situation when he took the stage as host of Saturday Night Live for the first time. “I didn't know that Donald Trump was going to win the election,” he told the crowd before adding, “I did suspect it.”
“Seemed like Hillary was doing well in the polls and yet, I know the whites,” Chappelle continued. “You guys aren’t as full of surprises as you used to be.” Speaking on behalf of all of black America, he added, “We are all praying for Omarosa.”
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“But America’s done it. We’ve actually elected an internet troll as our president,” Chappelle said. “The whites are furious. Never seen anything like it. Haven’t seen whites this mad since the O.J. verdict.” He marveled at the “white riot” going on in Portland, Oregon. “The news said they did a million dollars worth of damage. Every black person watching was like: amateurs.”
Chappelle said he decided he’s going to stay out of it: “I’m just going to be like Kaepernick and let the whites figure this out amongst themselves,” he said. “You know what I mean? We’ve been here before.”
Later in the monologue, he added, "I'm wishing Donald Trump luck. And I'm going to give him a chance. And we, the historically disenfranchised, demand that he give us one too."
The theme continued in the next sketch of the night, which saw Chappelle and a bunch of white friends watching the election results roll in. While they were all convinced that Hillary Clinton would win in the end, he remained skeptical throughout.
“It might be a historic night, but just don’t forget it’s a big country,” Chappelle said. “You ever been around this country?” As the hours ticked past, he feigned surprise that Clinton won Vermont and after she lost Florida said, “I guess Latinos didn’t hear about your toast.” As it started to become clear that Trump could win, Chris Rock showed up.
“I don’t get you ladies. I mean, the country's 55 percent women,” Rock said. “I mean, if the country was 55 percent black, we’d have tons of black presidents. Flavor Flav would be president.”
By the end of the night, they had finally realized that America might actually be racist. “Oh my God! You know, I remember my great-grandfather told me something like that, but he was like a slave or something, I don’t know.” As for why Clinton didn’t do as well with African-American voters as Obama did, Rock added, “You’re replacing a charismatic 40-year-old black guy with a 70-year-old white woman. That’s like the Knicks replacing Patrick Ewing with Neil Patrick Harris.”
But the last straw came when some called electing Donald Trump “the most shameful thing America has ever done.” All Chappelle and Rock could do was laugh.
