Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost landed perhaps the darkest joke of the night on this week’s “Weekend Update.”
After Michael Che informed viewers that former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has filed for divorce from her cross-dressing husband Bryon—“I guess we’ll never know why,” joked Che, as a photo of Bryon wearing balloon boobs appeared on the screen—Jost offered his take on the story.
“Kristi Noem said that she’s sad about the divorce, but is always happy to separate another family,” Jost said.
As he told the joke, the screen showed a picture of Noem wearing an ICE vest. Jost’s line drew a mix of both groans and applause.
Che told perhaps the second-darkest joke of the night a little earlier in the segment.
“In an interview, Vice President JD Vance said that in this year’s midterms, Republicans face an uphill climb,” Che said. “But hey, they’ve done it before.”
As he said this, he showed an image of the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021.
Che also joked about Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton, a controversial Republican running in a must-win race for his party in a historically red state.
“A new report shows that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running as the Republican for Senate, has taken more than 275 out-of-state trips while in office,” said Che.
The “Update” co-anchor joked, “Damn, he must have needed a lot of abortions.”
This wasn’t the only joke of the night at Paxton’s expense. In the cold open, James Austin Johnson’s Trump took a dig at Paxton’s lazy eye.
“It’s his eye,” SNL’s Trump said. “Hate that eye. You can’t say that kind of thing anymore. But I can, and I do all the time.”
Che also joked about Republicans’ efforts to save Paxton’s struggling campaign in Texas.
“In an effort to win back Hispanic support before the midterms, the Trump administration sent J.D. Vance to campaign in South Texas,” Che announced.
Showing an unflattering picture of Trump’s notorious chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Che jokingly added, “And if that doesn’t work, they’ll send in the Chupacabra.”
