This weekend saw the return of Donald Trump, active presidential candidate. Some two-and-a-half months after announcing his third campaign, he finally, belatedly sprung into action, kicking things off at a high school auditorium and, later, at a smallish rally with few big GOP stars. He was also the lede in SNL’s latest Weekend Update, which reserved its first jokes for him before getting to folks like Kanye West and even the parents of Swifties.
Co-anchor Colin Jost started by addressing the former president’s account being reinstated on Facebook and Instagram, albeit with what were vaguely called “guardrails.” About those, Jost joked that sounds like “the same thing they said every time they tried to reopen Jurassic Park.” He then added, “Also, what even are guardrails on Facebook and can they apply to my uncle? Because he’s posted some very disturbing fan fiction about the green M&M.”
Jost returned to Trump a bit later, when discussing GOP Sen. Rick Scott’s vow to complete his Southern border wall, which he would name after Trump. That prompted Jost to crack, “Even though most things named after Donald Trump are complete failures,” alongside an image of his oldest failson.
At one point, co-anchor Michael Che brought up the controversial new AI chatbot, which allows people to “converse” with simulated versions of real people, including Jesus and Hitler. Che joked there’s “one guy who thinks he’s both,” alongside a picture of Kanye West.
Che had another music-related joke: He talked about the Senate hearings held this week over Live Nation’s Taylor Swift snafu, which prompted concerns over their monopoly on concert ticket sales. That coaxed Taylor Swift fans to protest outside the Capitol. “Aww, that’s sweet,” Che said. “And only two years after their dads were there,” as a picture of Jan. 6 rioters appeared. That bit inevitably got quite the response.
You can watch the latest Weekend Update in the videos above and below.