Chris Rock made a brutal dig at Bill Clinton while also slamming liberals worried about the incoming Trump presidency during his Saturday Night Live monologue.
In what was hailed as one of the funniest opening monologues in recent times, Rock placed comedy above politics as he took swipes at both sides of the political spectrum.
‘There’s a lot going on in the news, my God, it’s so crazy out there,’ Rock stated as he began his seven-minute opening act.
Rock said it had been a ‘bad year for my people, blacks’, as he referenced Kamala Harris’ loss in November’s election.
But then switching sides, Rock took a few swipes at President-elect Donald Trump.
‘Trump had a good year, man,’ Rock said. ‘Trump survived an assassination attempt. Won the presidency again by winning the popular vote. Was just named ‘Time’ man of the year. You know? It could happen to a nicer guy,’ he jibed.
Rock noted how he was far from shocked that Trump won, despite all his controversies.
‘A lot of people are scared. Like, “oh, my God, he’s going to be so undignified.” When I say a lot of people, I’m talking about the nine New Yorkers that didn’t vote for him, okay?’, Rock said, poking fun at liberals.
He then quickly moved on to suggest Trump was far from being the only bad actor who had occupied the White House in American history.
‘Come on, man, this is not the most dignified job in the world. We’ve had presidents show up to the inauguration with pregnant slaves, okay? And I’m just talking about Bill Clinton,’ Rock said in one of his more memorable zingers.
Rock’s joke suggested both Clinton and Trump are part of a broader tradition of presidents behaving in ways that compromise the dignity of the office.
‘Dude. It’s the United States,’ joked Rock. ‘I mean, you know what country we live in. You know the history of this country. You know how many rapists are in my wallet right now? A cup of coffee in America costs seven rapists,’ Rock said to raucous laughter. ‘Trump’s going to get it down to three.’
Rock’s joke at Clinton appeared aimed at referencing the former president’s reputation for scandal, namely the Monica Lewinsky affair.
But his joke also played on the historical reality of American presidents in history engaging in morally questionable behavior such as Thomas Jefferson fathering children with enslaved woman, Sally Hemings, before he cleverly pivoted to Clinton, implying his own ‘scandalous’ reputation.
Turning to Trump, Rock joked how the president-elect was going to start deporting illegal immigrants while working with the ‘number one African American in the world, the richest African American in the world, Elon Musk.’
‘That’s right, he is African American,’ continued Rock noting how Musk is from South Africa.
‘Elon’s got more kids than the Cleveland Browns. Nobody knows how to get rid of people like a South African,’ Rock said to groans from the audience.
‘Oh, he’s serious. Trump is not playing. He’s got Elon. They’re going to put them in a rocket ship–call it ‘SpaceMex,” Rock joked using a pun referencing to Musk’s company, SpaceX and the Mexican border through which most immigrants cross to reach the U.S.
Rock ended his searing set by mentioning how President Joe Biden recently pardoned his son, Hunter.
‘I gotta hand it to Joe, he don’t move as fast as he used to, he don’t talk as fast as he used to,’ Rock said, ‘but that middle finger still works,’ he laughed, referring to the shocking pardon.
‘Only an animal would not pardon your son. Every parent in the world would pardon their son, except the parents of the Menendez Brothers,’ he joked.
It was familiar territory for Rock who was previously a cast member on SNL between 1990 and 1993, while also hosting the show in 1996, 2014 and 2020.
Fans went wild for the monologue, with one writing: ‘Hilarious monologue. One of the best of the season.’
Another added: ‘Best SNL opener in 50 years,’ while a third said: ‘Chris Rock delivering HEAT in his opening monologue.’
Others praised the performance: ‘It was a great opening, nice to have balanced humor,’ with another viewer saying: ‘Chris rock making SNL great again.’