'Gotta Read the Polls': 'SNL' Audience Groans as Michael Che Jokes About Biden 'No Longer Connecting With Black Communities'
March 31 2024, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
Saturday Night Live's audience had a mixed response to a joke that the show's "Weekend Update" co-host Michael Che made about President Joe Biden's declining support amongst Black voters during last night's episode, RadarOnline.com has learned.
"President Biden said Friday that he would visit the site of the Baltimore bridge collapse because, like that bridge, Biden is no longer connecting with Black communities," Che said during the segment.
The jab was a reference to the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, which collapsed on Tuesday morning after being struck by a container ship, as RadarOnline.com previously reported.
While some audience members laughed, others groaned, with the pointed barb eliciting a chorus of audible "oohs" from the crowd.
"You gotta read the polls!" Che said after shrugging in response to the audience reaction. "Wow," his co-host Colin Jost chuckled.
According to a poll by the Roper Center published in USA Today in January, 63% of Black voters said that they would vote for Biden in 2024, a precipitous drop from the 87% he received in the 2020 election.
Other recent polls found that 40% of Black voters do not want to vote in the upcoming general election at all, while presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump's support amongst Black voters has grown from 12% in 2020 to 23%.
Che and Jost poked fun at both candidates in their recurring "Weekend Update" segment on Saturday.
"More than 5,000 people attended a Democratic fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall, featuring big-name celebrities like Barack Obama, Stephen Colbert, and Lizzo," Che said. "As well as lesser known celebrities like President Joe Biden."
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Jost kicked off the segment by mocking Trump. "Four presidents visited New York City at the same time on Thursday, three to do a joint fundraiser at Radio City and one to sell bibles door to door," he joked.
"Donald Trump has partnered with country music star Lee Greenwood to sell a $60 special edition of the bible that also includes the Constitution, the lyrics to Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A. and, I assume, God's letter of resignation," he continued.
"This Bible is mostly the same. But Trump’s version ends with Jesus' disciples storming Jerusalem to overturn the results of the crucifixion."