Los Angeles: Indian-origin American actor and comedian Aziz Ansari made his Saturday Night Live (SNL) debut with a monologue which he opened by saying it’s “pretty cool a brown guy is making fun” of Donald Trump, a day after the inauguration.
Ansari, 33, made SNL history as he became the first South Asian to host the hit sketch show since it first launched in 1975. The comedian spent his monologue minutes on a stand-up routine skewering the new President, his supporters — and his supporters’ detractors, reported Billboard. Ansari did start out with one fun, easy dig. Hinting at Mr Trump’s tweeting tendencies after watching SNL to see how he’s depicted, Ansari smirked, “Pretty cool to know he’s probably at home watching a brown guy make fun of him.”
The Master of None star then talked about how different groups, most especially women, have been protesting against the new President. “Today, an entire gender protested against him,” he said, referencing the enormous Women’s March in DC and around the world. Ansari then cautioned, “We can’t demonise everyone that voted for Trump ... We’re talking about 63 million people.”
He suggested that it’s unfair to consider all of those Mr Trump supporters racist, when some of them were surely just “there for the tunes” — like they listen to Chris Brown. “Donald Trump is basically the Chris Brown of politics. And ‘Make America great again’ is his These Hoes Ain’t Loyal,” he said. The bulk of the monologue, however, was about being a Muslim and how racists now seemingly feel empowered.
Ansari next launched into how there’s a segment that feels they “don’t have to pretend we’re not racists anymore.” He also talked about how Muslims need to be presented in a fair and even funny way. Ansari finished his routine on a serious but hopeful note: “Change doesn’t come from presidents. Change comes from large groups of angry people. And if day one if any indication, you’re part of the largest group of angry people I’ve ever seen.”
