Dave Chappelle Begs ‘Petty’ Trump to ‘Do Better This Time’ on ‘SNL’

Dave Chappelle closed his Saturday Night Live monologue by asking President-elect Donald Trump to do something unthinkable: Try to be more like former President Jimmy Carter.

Towards the end of an unusually long monologue that also touched on the fallout from the L.A. fires, the Diddy allegations, and Luigi Mangione, the comic spoke with raw emotion about his experience witnessing the late Jimmy Carter’s visit to Palestine in 2008, where Carter entered Palestinian territory despite the Israeli government urging him not to for his own safety.

“I will never forget the images of a former American president walking with little to no security while thousands of Palestinians were cheering him on,” Chappelle said. “I said, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good president, but that right there, I am sure, is a great man.’”

Chappelle continued, “The presidency is no place for petty people. So, Donald Trump, I know you watch the show. Remember, whether people voted for you or not, they’re all counting on you.”

“Whether they like you or not, they’re all counting on you,” Chappelle continued. “The whole world is counting on you.”

Chappelle concluded, “I mean this when I say this: Good luck. Please, do better next time. Please, all of us, do better next time. Do not forget your humanity. And please, have empathy for displaced people, whether they’re in the Palisades or Palestine.”

Starting with Trump’s first win in 2016, Chappelle has been known for hosting SNL the weekend after each presidential election. In 2024, the show switched up the pattern and picked Bill Burr to host post-election, but Chappelle revealed in his monologue that he was, in fact, their first choice.

Chappelle explained that in October, “Lorne Michaels called me. And he asked me to do a Saturday Night Live, the first episode after the election. And I was like, ‘Nah man, I’m cool.’” Just to “get off the phone,” Chappelle joked that he told Michaels to save him “the date closest to January 6.”

He apparently wanted some extra time to formulate his thoughts about what America’s future will hold. And judging by the reaction to his monologue from the studio audience, it was worth the wait.