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Dave Chappelle Opens ‘SNL’ With Salacious, Poignant Commentary On Election And Racial Tensions

By Ernie Howell
Published on: 18:32 PST, Nov 12, 2016

Dave Chappelle opened the first post-election Saturday Night Live with a raunchy, poignant commentary on the election and racial tensions plaguing America.

In a SNL monologue that tight-roped the boundaries between touching and too far, Dave Chappelle tackled America’s recent election as well as racial tensions that persist, The Hollywood Reporter covered over the weekend. Mixing jokes in with social commentary, Dave Chappelle attempted to put his spin on the election results as only the SNL host could.

“America’s done it. We’ve actually elected an Internet troll as our president. The whites are furious. I’ve never seen anything like. I have seen white people this mad since the O.J. [Simpson] verdict.”

Dave Chappelle also used the Harambe shooting to breach racial tension issues during his SNL monologue. The shooting of Harambe over the summer led Dave Chappelle into more discussion about racial tensions between police and African Americans.

“And the Cincinnati Police Department said ‘shooting that gorilla is the toughest decision this department ever had to make.’ I said, ‘you about to see a lot of n****** in gorilla costumes in Cincinnati.'”

“Why do we have to say that; why do we have to say that black lives matter?” Dave Chappelle asked, questioning why police had adopted the same slogan. His answer was surprising as the SNL host implored cops to reconsider their position.

“Even the police [use] it. Blue lives matter. What, was you born a police? That is not a blue life. That’s a blue suit. If you don’t like, take that suit off, find a new job. Cause I’m going to tell you right now if I could quit being black today, I’d be out of the game.”

Dave Chappelle made his most moving comments at the end of his SNL monologue, recalling a recent White House gathering he attended sponsored by BET. Dave Chappelle recounted the struggles early African American encountered trying to enter the White House and how far the country has come from those early days.

“I saw how happy everybody was, these people who had been historically disenfranchised. And it made me feel hopeful, and it made me feel proud to be an American, and it made me very happy about the prospects of our country. So, in that spirit, I’m wishing Donald Trump luck, and I’m going to give him a chance. And we, the historically disenfranchised, demand that he give us one, too.”

Dave Chappelle did get one dig in on the president-elect. Referencing the famous “locker room talk” Donald Trump had with Billy Bush, Dave Chappelle pushed the SNL boundaries with his attempt at humor.

“I don’t know if he is going to make a good president, but he makes a swell hotel suite, I’m going to tell you that. Housekeeping comes in in the morning, cleans my room, ‘hey, good morning housekeeping.’ Grab a big handful of p****, say ‘boss says it was okay.'”

Dave Chappelle derided the election discussion as secondary to other issues during his SNL opening.

“I don’t even think it’s the most important thing we are dealing with,” Dave Chappelle said, adding mass shootings to the list of topics covered in his SNL monologue.

Kate McKinnon preceded the Dave Chappelle monologue by playing a piano solo of the recently deceased Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” for the cold opening to the show, Deadspin reported. The oddity of Kate McKinnon’s performance, however, was the actress did so in character as the SNL mainstay performed the song as Secretary Hillary Clinton.

What do you think about Dave Chappelle opening SNL with a raunchy, poignant monologue? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[Featured image by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]

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