‘SNL’ Star Michael Che Uses MAGA’s Favorite Slur to Mortify Donald Trump
The “Weekend Update” anchor decided to fight fire with fire in his new stand-up special.
Saturday Night Live star Michael Che is flipping the script on MAGA’s obsession with the “r-slur.”
In his new Netflix stand-up special, Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota, the “Weekend Update” anchor explained why the word has enjoyed renewed popularity among the MAGA base—and how President Trump’s critics could be using it to their advantage.
Trump has repeatedly referred to his predecessor Joe Biden as “mentally r----ded,” and even reportedly called his opponent Kamala Harris the slur back in the 2024 election.
Steven Cheung has repeatedly used the “r-slur” to attack Trump’s enemies.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, meanwhile, called the Daily Beast’s Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles “a r----d who has no idea what goes on in the White House” in response to her comments about the Trump administration on The Daily Beast Podcast.
Che jokingly made the argument that liberals, by declining to use the offensive term, have unwittingly let the MAGA movement off the hook.
“Ever since we stopped using the word r----ded, r----ded people have taken over the world,” Che joked. “I don’t think that s--t’s a coincidence. I think if we still used the word r----ded, Donald Trump could have never been president.”
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Che explained his theory further: “That’s why he won. We didn’t have a word to call him.”
Che recalled the many presidential debates where Trump’s opponents struggled to explain exactly why Trump wasn’t a good fit for office.
“‘Come on, this guy can’t be president. He’s clearly...’ Like, just say it,” Che said. Instead of using terms like “unpresidential,” Che argued, Trump’s opponents should’ve just said, “He’s a r----ded guy.”
“R----ded meaning regressive,” Che clarified. “A bunch of motherf---ers trying to take all our rights away.”
Che then set his sights not just on Trump but the entire MAGA movement: “Trump’s not just dangerous because he’s r----ded, he’s also... He’s like a r----d whisperer.”
Referencing the Jan. 6 riots where Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, Che said that Trump “knows exactly what to say to get r----ed people to just dress up like Vikings and start storming s--t.”
Michael Che in Minnesota-based stand-up special
Netflix
“Why do you think they spend so much money on hats?” he asked. “R----ed guys love hats. And Donald Trump makes the greatest r----ded hat: Fire engine red. You give a r----ded guy a free hat, you have made a friend for life.”
Che’s special, which also covered controversial topics like the Charlie Kirk assassination, was notably more explicit than his usual material behind SNL’s “Weekend Update” desk.
After doing a particularly risqué assassination joke about a gay John Wilkes Booth, Che confessed, “This is why they don’t let me do sketches on Saturday Night Live.”
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