SNL Weekend Update Grapples With How to Address Trump’s Covid Diagnosis: ‘The Problem Is It’s Almost Too Funny’

As Saturday Night Live returned for its 46th season, Michael Che and Colin Jost took the reins of Weekend Update once again, and they began by tackling Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis.

The president’s diagnosis was addressed by Chris Rock in the season premiere, and as Jost brought up the news at the start of the segment, he addressed the confusion of information about the president’s condition, plus the well wishes Trump received from his political enemies. When Che got his turn, he swiftly conceded that the whole situation might be too on-the-nose to poke fun at, even though there’s plenty of ironic jokes to be made.

“Okay, look, this is weird. Because a lot of people on both sides are saying there’s nothing funny about Trump being hospitalized with coronavirus even though he mocked the safety precautions for the coronavirus, and those people are obviously wrong,” Che said. “There’s a lot funny about this, maybe not from a moral standpoint, but mathematically, if you were constructing a joke, this has all the ingredients you need.”

Che went on by saying “the problem is it’s almost too funny. Like it’s so on-the-nose it would be like if I were making fun of people who wear belts and then my pants just immediately fell down.”

“Is anyone surprised by this? I honestly thought Trump was trying to get coronavirus,” Che continued later on. “So all those maskless rallies Trump was having, that was him being safe? But I don’t want the president to die, obviously. Actually, I wish him a very lengthy recovery.”

Watch above, via NBC.