Kenan Thompson managed to work a cursory mention of Tyre Nichols’ killing by Memphis police officers into Saturday Night Live’s unrelated cold open sketch this week. And Colin Jost and Michael Che seemed to agree that the biggest news story of the week was just too bleak to joke about on “Weekend Update.”
Instead, the pair focused on Facebook welcoming Donald Trump back on its platform after a two-year ban—“this time they’ll put guardrails in place to keep him under control, which I think is the same thing they say every time they try to reopen Jurassic Park”—and the search for classified documents in the homes of former presidents.
Then came this joke from Che about a hearing on Capitol Hill this week: “During the Senate hearings investigating Live Nation and their monopoly on concert ticket sales, fans of Taylor Swift protested outside the Capitol. Aww, that’s sweet. And only two years after their dads were there.”
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A photo of right-wing insurrectionists appeared on the screen as the live audience groaned in response—and Jost gleefully took in his co-anchor’s punchline.
From there, Jost moved on to a joke about Florida Senator Rick Scott vowing to finish the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and name it after Donald Trump. “Even though most things named after Donald Trump are complete failures,” he joked as Donald Trump Jr.’s photo appeared on the screen beside him.
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