When Republican candidate and convicted felon Donald Trump won the Presidential election just before dawn on Wednesday, millions of Americans awoke to a bleak future. But over at Studio 8H, Saturday Night Live is busy at work on the impossible—that is, finding the funny in what just happened. The NBC sketch series has enlisted stand up comic Bill Burr with fronting those efforts, as he will host the Saturday, November 9 episode alongside musical guest Mk.Gee.
This is a break in tradition for SNL, which invited comedian Dave Chappelle to host the show’s last two post-election episodes in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Over the last four years, however, Chappelle has experienced a fall of grace—at least in liberal circles—thanks to his transphobic jokes. Although that didn’t prevent him from scoring another invite to host SNL in 2022, he was evidently not Lorne Michaels’ choice for the post-election show.
As host, Burr—a 56-year-old white dude who has occasionally infiltrated the conservatively-bent, male-driven podcast ecosystem—will surely strike a different tone than Chappelle did. But like Chappelle, he is no stranger to controversial comedy.
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Burr made his Saturday Night Live debut in 2020, hosting the Oct. 10 episode just weeks before the 2020 election. During his opening monologue, Burr took aim at the complacency of white women who have “hijacked the woke movement,” which “was supposed to be about people of color not getting opportunities that they deserve.” It’s a topic that has been resurrected in light of high voter turnout among white women for Trump in the 2024 election.
“The nerve of you white women,” he continued, before venturing “back in history” to further his argument. “You guys stood by us toxic white males through centuries of our crimes against humanity. You rolled around in the blood money, and occasionally, when you wanted to sneak off and hook up with a Black dude, if you got caught, you said it wasn’t consensual. Yeah, that’s what you did! So, why don’t you shut up, sit down next to me, and take your talking-to?”
