Comedian Shane Gillis returned to Saturday Night Live this weekend, but if he was expecting a warm welcome, he was in for a rude awakening. The left-leaning studio audience in New York was audibly uneasy when Gillis started making fun of their sacred cows—especially President Joe Biden and the Democratic establishment.
Gillis, who was controversially fired from SNL in 2019 over past remarks deemed “offensive” by woke critics, wasted no time addressing the elephant in the room.
Biden, Trump, and the Crowd That Just Wouldn’t Laugh
Early in his monologue, Gillis took aim at President Biden’s well-documented struggles with public speaking.
“My favorite thing about Biden was that anytime he was giving a speech, in between teleprompters, his face would go back to being dead. Do you remember that?”
The joke landed—at least for viewers at home—but inside NBC’s legendary Studio 8H, the audience wasn’t having it. A few chuckles, maybe, but mostly awkward silence. Sensing the tension, Gillis smirked and added:
“Look, I get it. You guys are pretty liberal here.”
That understatement got a nervous laugh, but it was clear that the comedian was on borrowed time.
‘Like the Sith’ – The Power of Liberal Outrage
Gillis continued, joking about the intoxicating power of modern-day liberalism, comparing it to Star Wars villains.
“Look, I understand being liberal, dude. It feels good. It’s powerful. It’s too powerful, dude. It’s like the Sith… Sometimes somebody says something you don’t like at work and you’re like…”
He then mimicked Emperor Palpatine whispering, “Do it.”
The joke was meant to poke fun at the cancel culture mindset that’s become all too common among today’s left-wing activists. But if the crowd didn’t laugh at Biden jokes, they certainly weren’t going to chuckle at a joke that held up a mirror to their own intolerance.
Gillis, fully aware that he was losing the room, sighed and said, “Alright, now I’m going to lose you even more.”
Bringing Up the Civil War – A Risky Move
Later in his monologue, Gillis ventured into trickier territory, launching into a joke about the Civil War. However, he quickly stopped himself and quipped:
“Alright, I don’t know how to get out of this joke. I really wanted to talk Ken Burns with you guys.”
It was a moment of self-awareness—something few comics on SNL ever display. Most of the time, the show relies on canned political satire that plays to the liberal crowd. But when someone like Gillis comes in and upends expectations? The discomfort is palpable.
Trump, Greenland, and the Vikings’ Trick
In one of the night’s lighter moments, Gillis joked about former President Donald Trump’s past interest in acquiring Greenland. He reminded the audience of an old Viking deception:
“You know how the Vikings used to call Greenland ‘Greenland’ and Iceland ‘Iceland’ to keep people away, when in fact Greenland is ice and Iceland is green?”
Then, in a pitch-perfect Trump impression, he mimicked the former president staring at a map, pointing:
“‘Green! And we love green!’”
It was a classic bit, and one that likely would have had a different crowd roaring. But again, the room stayed quiet, seemingly unsure if they were even allowed to laugh at a Trump joke that wasn’t full of venom.
The Bigger Picture: SNL’s Liberal Bias Exposed Again
Gillis’ SNL return was another reminder of how out-of-touch the show’s audience—and by extension, its writers—has become. Once upon a time, SNL prided itself on lampooning both sides of the aisle, but in the last decade, the humor has skewed almost entirely in one direction. The result? A program that preaches to the choir and alienates half the country.
Gillis is one of the few comedians willing to push back against this dynamic. And while the in-studio audience may have squirmed, millions of Americans watching at home likely felt the same way they did when Johnny Carson or Norm Macdonald took the stage: finally, a comedian who says what everyone’s thinking.
His jokes may not have landed in Manhattan, but in middle America? That’s a different story.
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It is NOT liberal bias, and the room was NOT liberal. Look up the word people! Liberal means tolerant, inclusive, open, not closed, censored, or lock stepped. THERE IS NOTHING LIBERAL ABOUT THE LEFT WING!!!!!
Yeah – try to bring back the former meaning of “Liberal” and see how far you get. — It’s the “Liberals” who have destroyed the original meaning and implanted the new one of being intolerant communists in its place – and that is going to be the definition for a VERY long time to come. It’s done and set and won’t go away – get over it.
LOL!!!! And “Gay” didn’t mean light in the loafers and limp-wristed when the term was applied long ago – it just meant free-spirited and jovial, which it does NOT mean anymore. SO – what “Liberal” USED to mean is NOT what it means now. — You REALLY need to come forward in time and smell the wokeness burning.