“Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost was surprised by the audience reaction to a joke he made about President Donald Trump’s decision to send more than $20 billion to bail out Argentina’s economy.
Jost jokingly implied that Trump may have sent Argentina the money because, “If history is any guide, a lot of Trump officials will end up fleeing to Argentina.”
The joke was a reference to the fact that many Nazi war criminals fled to Argentina in the aftermath of World War II.
The audience’s response to the joke was slightly muted. It sounded like some audience members may have thought the joke too dark, while others simply didn’t get it.
At least one person did appreciate it, though, and Jost shouted them out: “Hey, one clap.”
The audience laughed and applauded this ad-lib, and Jost added good-naturedly, “I’m just kidding.”
Jost also covered Trump’s decision Friday to release George Santos from prison, when the disgraced former congressman had served only three months of a seven-year sentence.
“George Santos, the former Republican congressman who pled guilty to fraud and something called aggravated identity theft, which I think is when you push someone into a closet and switch clothes with them, is now free and will face zero consequences,” Jost said.
Referencing Santos’ long history of needless deception, Jost later joked, “In the clinching game of the NLCS, Dodger star Shohei Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters, then hit three home runs. It is a feat previously only accomplished by George Santos.”
On the other side of the desk, co-anchor Michael Che weighed in on the ongoing NYC mayoral race.
“During the first New York mayoral debate, [Andrew] Cuomo attacked Zohran Mamdani, saying that he once gave the finger to the Columbus Day statue. Whereas Cuomo snuck up behind the statue and grabbed it by the hips.”
Che also joked about Trump’s photo on the latest cover of TIME Magazine, which the president complained was the “worst” photo of him “of all time.”
“President Trump criticized TIME Magazine for using a bad picture of him on the cover, saying, quote, ‘They disappeared my hair,’” Che said.
Che looked at a close-up of Trump’s neck fat in the photo and remarked, “I got to agree that they do look waxed.”
