Many Republicans remember fondly the days when President Donald Trump won his first presidential election and the leftist hysteria that followed. There are memes that are still circulating from that time period, showing how horribly Democrats melted down after being shocked by his victory over Hillary Clinton.
Comedian Dave Chappelle, who was not at all surprised by Trump’s win, recently reminisced about his appearance on “Saturday Night Live” and seeing the reactions from the show’s staff. During a conversation with Variety’s Mo Amer, Chappelle said, “Man, when they called Donald Trump to win, that sh*t shut the writer's room down. You should have seen them in there.”
The comedian further stated that members of the cast were “crying like Black peoplee” and that “they couldn’t believe that this was happening.”
Dave Chappelle reveals what the SNL writer’s room looked like when Trump got elected in 2016: “That s**t shut the writers room down.”https://t.co/VW4gwr7t8l pic.twitter.com/JwHTe9nyd9
— Variety (@Variety) June 4, 2025
During the interview, Chappelle said he had prepared two monologues for the show during the 2020 election — one for a Biden win and one for a Trump win.
The two comedians also discussed his opening monologue in 2016, when he indicated he would be willing to give Trump a chance.
Oh, I remember that part. But you know what? I look at it like a photograph. That’s what it felt like in that moment. Now, if it ages well or not, I don’t get mad if I look at a picture because it’s not today. That’s what it was at that time. You might look at an old set and cringe, but you could just cringe because of how you were at that time.
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The SNL cast definitely took Clinton’s loss hard. It was almost as if each of these people lost a loved one to cancer. Remember when Kate McKinnon sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” while in character as Hillary Clinton?
This might provide closure or break you utterly. Kate McKinnon singing Hallelujah to open post-Trump SNL https://t.co/1p2UreDTPq
— LucyMangan (@LucyMangan) November 13, 2016
I don’t think I know of any other time people were this depressed over an election. But what followed was an ongoing outpouring of hysteria about the Orange Man What Is Bad™ that still persists today. Although I don’t think the 2024 election brought the same level of shock, given that former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign was about as effective as using a wet paper towel to carry a boulder.
Still, we can see how deeply Trump has triggered folks on the left — and it does not appear he plans to stop anytime soon.
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