Hosting “Saturday Night Live” in its final broadcast before the inauguration of Donald Trump, comedian Dave Chappelle concluded with advice for the new president.
“Do not forget your humanity,” Chappelle said. “And please, have empathy for displaced people, whether they’re in the Palisades or Palestine.”
The line represented Chappelle’s signature mix of humor and serious sermonizing and came after a nearly 15-minute monologue that acknowledged his own controversies as a comedian and included an extended anecdote about President Jimmy Carter’s 2006 visit to the Middle East.
The appearance came just over two years after Chappelle’s last turn hosting the sketch comedy show, which turns 50 this year. In 2022, his jokes about “the Jews” earned chuckles from the audience and opprobrium from others, with Time Out New York’s theater critic tweeting: “That Dave Chappelle SNL monologue probably did more to normalize anti-Semitism than anything Kanye said.” That appearance closely followed an uproar over Chappelle’s jokes about transgender people.
This time, Chappelle said, he wasn’t trying to ruffle feathers. “I’m tired of being controversial. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf,” he said. (He later offered a wink to the notion that he was sidestepping sticky subjects.)
Instead, he spoke plainly about Trump’s inauguration, and how flags around the country will remain at half-staff afterwards because of the recent death of Carter, president from 1977 to 1981. He recalled that Carter’s 2006 trip coincided with the release of the former president’s book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” which angered supporters of Israel because it likened Israeli practices to the racist South African apartheid regime — a charge that has been made more frequently in the decades since.
Chappelle recalled that he, too, was in the region after abruptly quitting his TV show, so he was attuned to the discourse about Carter’s visit and knew that Carter had many detractors in Israel. He recounted:
While he was there, Jimmy Carter said, I want to go to the Palestinian territories. And the Israeli government said, it’s too dangerous, and if you go, we cannot protect you. And, man, Jimmy Carter went anyway. I will never forget the images of a former American president walking with little to no security while thousands of Palestinians were cheering him on. When I saw that picture, it brought tears to my eyes. I said, I don’t know if that’s a good president, right there, but I am sure that is a great man.”
From there, he transitioned to advice for Trump.
The presidency is no place for petty people. Donald Trump, I know you watch the show. Man, remember, whether people voted for you or not, they’re all counting on you. Whether they like you or not, they’re all counting on you. The whole world is counting on you. I mean this when I say this: Good luck. Please, do better next time. Please, all of us, do better next time. Do not forget your humanity and please have empathy for displaced people, whether they’re in the Palisades or Palestine.
The appearance came just hours before a ceasefire took effect in the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Trump is widely seen as having effectively demanded a deal, which includes the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas and Palestinian security prisoners by Israel, against the preferences of Israeli leaders.
Trump reportedly hopes to win a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in the Middle East, which in addition to the ceasefire have included the peace deals between Israel and Arab countries that follow in the model of the one Carter brokered between Israel and Egypt in 1978.
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