A few years ago, Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson was forced to apologize to Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) after he made a throwaway joke about the eyepatch that he wears. But that overblown uproar did not stop SNL’s Michael Che from returning to the eyepatch well on “Weekend Update” this week.
This time, he was talking about Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, who was arrested and charged with sedition this past week for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“But I don’t know, he looks pretty remorseful,” Che said, as Rhodes’ photo appeared on screen beside him. “Hopefully he can patch things up.” He then added, “That wasn’t an eye joke. I was being genuine.”
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But he wasn’t done. “Rhodes is being accused of messaging his right-wing group with instructions on how to use force to attack the Capitol,” he continued. “Authorities knew the messages were from Rhodes because they all began with ‘Arr, matey.’”
Perhaps Che felt confident about making fun of Rhodes’ eyepatch both because of his role in trying to overthrow democracy and because of the circumstances that led him to lose his eye. Unlike Crenshaw, who was injured by an IED during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan, Rhodes reportedly dropped a loaded handgun nearly three decades ago, accidentally shooting himself in the face and costing him his left eye.
Don’t hold your breath for any apologies this time.
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