“Saturday Night Live’s” cold open is the show’s way of skewering the juiciest target of the week. And this past weekend, the Ivy League presidents who shamed themselves and their institutions took center stage. You might have thought that “SNL” would take the opportunity to hold these academics accountable, but instead, they went the old ‘Republicans pounce!’ route. It’s like they looked at the situation, saw the perfect opportunity to highlight the moral rot of these university leaders, and decided to turn the spotlight on Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik instead. Classic SNL move.
The sketch featured Chloe Troast’s Stefanik, screaming her questions like a lunatic, while the three college presidents appeared poised in comparison. It’s the satirical version of, “Republicans pounce!” For those who are unfamiliar with the term, “Republicans pounce” is the way the corrupt mainstream press frames stories that look bad for Democrats or liberals. Rather than reporting the facts, journalists suggest the GOP is “pouncing” or “seizing” on the problematic party. In this case, it’s the GOP “pouncing” on a trio of academics who refused to punish calls for genocide against the Jews on their campuses.
And it gets even worse! Stefanik uses up her allotted time in the sketch, but a colleague gives his slot to her so she can continue. “I am here today because hate speech has no place on college campuses. Hate speech belongs in Congress, on Elon Musk’s Twitter, at private dinners with my donors and in public speeches by my work husband, Donald Trump.” Oh, the irony! Ignore college students ripping down hostage posters, look away as university professors praising Hamas—according to “SNL,” the real villains in the post-Oct. 7 world are Elon Musk and Republicans.
The sketch didn’t sit well with viewers, as evidenced by these YouTube comments:
“Actually making more fun of the Rep. than the anti-Jewish racist. Fire the activist writers and get back to Comedy.”
“The universe gave SNL a slam dunk and they just fumbled the ball.”
“I am no fan of Trump or the congress woman who asked the questions here. But the reason this sketch didn’t work is that in this context, the congress woman was the one who made the most sense and the university presidents looked like fools. They tried to reverse that in this sketch. The audience didn’t even know what to do with it.”
“SNL really hopes that people watching their show are so stupid that they didn’t watch the original video. The woman questioning them wasn’t screaming like a crazy person.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more grating, unwatchable SNL sketch. That screeching woman playing Stefanik actually made me sympathize with a Republican!”
“They seriously made fun of Elise Stefanik more than the three women who wouldn’t condemn speech calling for genocide against Jews? Unreal.”
The context here, while we’re using the same word the presidents’ used to defend the indefensible, is just as bad. “Saturday Night Live” has all but ignored the Left’s crazed reaction to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel which killed 1,200 people and kidnapped hundreds more, including babies. Babies! When the show finally got around to exposing the stunning rise in anti-semitism, it focused on the GOP figure who helped reveal it to a stunned nation.
“Saturday Night Live” isn’t officially dead. It’s just as morally bankrupt as your average Ivy League academic. And that’s saying something.”
