Dave Chappelle Appeals to Donald Trump Ahead of Inauguration on ‘SNL’: ‘Please Do Better Next Time’

(CNN) — Dave Chappelle shared a powerful message during his opening monologue on the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

After the comedian performed a lengthy stand-up in which he joked about Sean “Diddy” Combs, among other topics, Chappelle shared a moving story about a time when the late President Jimmy Carter inspired him, which led to an appeal to the president-elect. Donald Trump before taking office on Monday.

“I was in the Middle East years ago, after I left my show. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life,” the comedian said. “While I was there, Jimmy Carter flew to Israel, so everyone in the area was talking about the presence of a former American president in the Middle East.”

Chappelle added that while Carter was in Israel, he was releasing his controversial 2006 book “Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid” and decided he wanted to visit Palestinian territory even though at the time, the Israeli government advised him against it and told him that would be the case. I won’t be able to protect him adequately.

“And man, Jimmy Carter still went.” I will never forget the images of a former American president marching with little or no security while thousands of Palestinians cheered him on,” Chappelle said. “And when I saw this photo, I had tears in my eyes. I said: “I don’t know if he’s a good president, but I’m sure he’s a great man.” »

The sentiment drew cheers and applause from Chappelle, who then addressed Trump directly, saying, “the presidency is no place for little people.”

He asked Trump to remember that whether people “vote for you or not, they’re all counting on you.” Whether they like you or not, they are all counting on you. The whole world is counting on you.

“I mean it when I say this: good luck. Please do better next time. Please, all of us, do better next time,” he said.

“Remember your humanity and have empathy for the displaced people, whether they are in the Palisades or in Palestine,” he added, referring to the Los Angeles wildfires that largely destroyed the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, among others.

Before Chappelle’s speech, there were of course a lot of jokes.

He first took the stage smoking a cigarette and began his set joking about how he had turned down “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels’ initial offer to host the first episode after the election. 2024. “No, I’m fine,” he remembers responding.

Chappelle then joked that he was finally convinced to return as host when he realized he could use it as an opportunity to “get rid of” old jokes about Trump, so he said yes .

He also joked about how he was trying to understand why it seemed like everyone in Hollywood was invited to Combs’ “freak-off” parties before the troubled rapper’s arrest, except for him.

Chappelle attributed this to having “snitch energy,” adding that “I look like I’m saying it.”

GloRilla was the musical guest for the episode. Timothée Chalamet will be the host and musical guest on next week’s episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

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