Dave Chappelle Says He "Fucked Up" On SNL When He Asked People To Give Trump A Chance
Pitchfork- The Saturday after Trump won the U.S. election, Dave Chappelle opened “Saturday Night Live” with a monologue criticizing the “internet troll” president-elect. But he stopped short of despondency. “I’m wishing Donald Trump luck,” he said. “And I’m going to give him a chance. And we the historically disenfranchised demand that he gives us one too.” During his set at New York’s Robin Hood gala last night, Chappelle backpedalled on his cautious optimism. “I was the first guy on TV to say ‘Give Trump a chance,’” Chappelle said, according to attendees including MSNBC’s Willie Geist. “I f***ed up. Sorry.” Watch a separate clip from the set, in which Chappelle discusses Trump’s time in office, below.
Maybe the biggest no brainer in history that Dave Chappelle asking people to give President Donald Trump a chance was going to backfire. You could see that coming from a mile away. That’s the easy take. You can just let out a massive “duhhhhhhhhh” and say how the wheels on Trump’s presidency were bound to fall off from the jump and asking to give him a chance was moronic. On the other hand though, that was an impossible situation for Chappelle. Think back to that moment. He went on a show with a MASSIVE platform the very Saturday after Trump got elected. That’s a big time responsibility. I’m guessing Chappelle knew that Trump was batshit crazy and was going to be a horrible president but he just wanted to try and inject some hope into an otherwise hopeless-looking situation. Regardless of your political leanings, it was WILD WILD WILD when Trump got elected president. The dude who openly talked about grabbing pussies was now holding the most powerful office in the world. So yeah, Chappelle could’ve stood up there and ripped Trump apart and the crowd at 30 Rock would’ve given him a standing ovation. It also would’ve accomplished nothing. But instead he took a risk, asked people to give Trump a chance when he had to know it was a bad idea and it backfired. Simple as that.