Dave Chappelle ‘SNL’ Sketch After First Trump Victory Still Feels Eerily Accurate
When Dave Chappelle hosted SNL’s first show after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, he appeared in a sketch called “Election Night” as a Black man who saw a very different country than his white, liberal friends. When they fill champagne glasses to celebrate the country’s first female president, Chappelle warns his pals to pump the brakes. “It might be a historic night,” he concedes, “but don’t forget it’s a big country.”
What happens next in the sketch no doubt played out in liberal living rooms across America last night — viewers citing media pundits predicting a Democratic victory, rationalizations that Latino voters would save the day and the denigration of Southern voters as racists who know no better. It’s inconceivable to everyone at the election party that the election won’t go their way.
When Chris Rock shows up, the incredulous voters inform him that Trump might actually win. To the sketch’s two Black characters, that was always the likely outcome. “Of course, what are you talking about?” laughs Rock.
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“I tried to tell them that,” says Chappelle.
As more states are called for Trump, a realization slowly comes over Cecily Strong’s character. “Oh my God,” she says in hushed tones. “I think America is racist.”
“Oh my God,” echoes Chappelle. “You know, I remember my great-grandfather told me something like that. But he was like a slave or something, I don’t know.”
Once Trump is officially elected, Strong laments, “This is crazy. I mean, do you know what it’s like to be a woman in this country where you can’t get ahead no matter what you do?”
“Oh geez, I don’t know,” chuckles Chappelle. “I’ll put my thinking cap on for that one and get back to you.”
Finally, Chappelle advises the forlorn partygoers to pack it in. “Get some rest,” he advises. “You got a big day of moping and writing on Facebook tomorrow.”
The sketch concludes with Beck Bennett calling Trump’s election the most shameful thing America has ever done, causing the two Black comics to break into hysterics.
Several users on Twitter/X noted the sketch’s continued relevancy:
Bill Burr is hosting SNL this weekend, so we (probably) won’t get to see Chappelle and Rock reprise the sketch. Not that they need to — SNL could rerun the eight-year-old sketch and it would be just as timely.
