Saturday Night Live has released a sketch about President Donald Trump’s ICE deployments in Minnesota, slamming the federal agents behind the “scary” situation unfolding.
The cut-for-time “Weekend Update” segment was led by Tommy Brennan, a Minnesota native who joined SNL for its 51st season as a featured cast member.
SNL’s Michael Che teed up Brennan to discuss the mounting unrest in Minnesota in the wake of Renee Good being shot by an ICE agent. The incident triggered mass protests and a surge of ICE agents across the state.
“Look, I know that no one is dying for a hot take on this from a guy who looks like he was home-schooled on a yacht,” Brennan joked, “But it would be insane to ignore what’s happening in my hometown right now.”
Brennan then told the audience, “I know there’s nothing I can say that will ease the grief and anger and fear that a lot of people are feeling right now. But I wanted to show you one thing from the ICE protests in Minnesota that gave me just a glimmer of hope.”
The show then repeatedly cut to a now-viral video of a federal employee slipping and falling on ice while patrolling in Minnesota.
“And then he gets up and just jogs back to his car,” Brennan said. “Just completely gives up on his mission. It honestly kind of looks like that was his mission. Like, his superior officer was like, ‘Hey, go do a Scooby-Doo fall on that ice, and then hobble your way back to the car.’”
“Also, just to be clear, I’m not reveling in another person’s pain,” he said, drawing the sketch to a close. “If I wanted to do that, I would join ICE.”
“Leave Minnesota alone!” he concluded.
But the decision to release the cut sketch on social media, rather than airing it in the episode, drew criticism from fans. One user wrote on Instagram, “Feels like a cowardly move to cut this one tbh,” while another quipped, “For cutting this, we deserve two segments on Minneapolis next week.”
