Aziz Ansari set ‘Saturday Night Live‘ stage on fire the day following the inauguration, using his first ever turn guest hosting the show to send a clear message to President Trump: stop tweeting and start trying to fix the nation he so successfully divided.
“Wow. I can’t believe this. I’m here hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’,” he said. “Yeah! The day after Trump’s inauguration. Mmmmm. Pretty cool to know, though, he’s probably at home right now watching a brown guy make fun of him though, right?”
In all probability, yes.
The ‘Master Of None‘ creator + star went in on the rise of Islamophobia and hate crimes since Trump won the election, and gave us the phrase ‘lower case KKK’ to describe the actual white nationalists (or so-called ‘alt-right’) that are gaining alarming traction and legitimacy under the Trump administration.
“You know who I’m talking about,” he said. “There’s like this new, lower-case K.K.K. movement that started — this kind of casual white supremacy. ‘Oh, let me put my foot in the pool and see how cold this water really is.’ No! No! I’m talking about these people that are running around saying stuff like, ‘Trump won! Go back to Africa!’ ‘Trump won! Go back to Mexico!’”
“Is that the plan, by the way? We’re all going to move? All the minorities? Forty-some percent of the country? Every minority’s going to move? Beyoncé’s going to move? Beyoncé ain’t moving.”
He called on Trump to pull a George W. Bush and make a speech denouncing Islamophobia, similar to how the 43rd POTUS did after 9/11.
“George W. Bush made a speech after 9/11, and it really helped. Things changed. This what he said in his speech, and I’m paraphrasing slightly. He said, ‘Islam is peace. The perpetrators of these attacks, they don’t represent Islam. They represent war and violence. Our enemies are not our Muslim brothers and sisters. Our enemies are a network of radical terrorists.’ And everyone applauded. Democrats, Republicans, it didn’t matter. Because it’s not about politics. It’s about basic human decency and remembering why the country was founded in the first place.
Yeah, it’s weird for left-leaning types to get nostalgic for George W. Bush, but here we bloody are.
Ansari ended his powerful opener on a v. inspiring note, in light of the millions of people who attended Women’s Marches across the globe yesterday.
“If you’re excited about Trump, great. He’s president. Let’s hope he does a great job,” he said.
“If you’re scared about Trump and you’re very worried, you’re going to be O.K., too. Because if you look at our country’s history, change doesn’t come from presidents. Change comes from large groups of angry people. And if Day 1 is any indication, you are part of the largest group of angry people I have ever seen.”
