Dave Chappelle issues plea to Donald Trump before inauguration on ‘SNL’: ‘Please, do better next time’

Dave Chappelle shared a powerful message during his opening monologue on the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live.” (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters/File via CNN Newsource)

Dave Chappelle shared a powerful message during his opening monologue on the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

After the comedian performed a lengthy standup set in which he joked about Sean “Diddy” Combs, among other topics, Chappelle shared a moving story about a time when the late President Jimmy Carter inspired him, leading into issuing a plea to president-elect Donald Trump before he takes office on Monday.

“I was in the Middle East years ago, after I quit my show. I was trying to find out what I wanted to do with my life,” the comedian recounted. “While I was there, Jimmy Carter flew to Israel, so everybody in the region was talking about a former American president being in the Middle East.”

Chappelle added that while Carter was in Israel, he was releasing his controversially titled 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” and decided he wanted to visit a Palestinian territory even though at the time, the Israeli government advised against it and told him it wouldn’t be able to adequately protect him.

“And man, Jimmy Carter went anyway. I will never forget the images of a former American president walking with little to no security while thousands of Palestinians were cheering him on,” Chappelle said. “And when I saw that picture, it brought tears to my eyes. I said, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good president, but that right there, I am sure, is a great man.’”

The sentiment garnered cheers and applause for Chappelle, who then addressed Trump directly, saying, “the presidency is no place for petty people.”

He asked Trump to remember that whether people “voted for you or not, they’re all counting on you. Whether they like you or not, they’re all counting on you. The whole world is counting on you.”

“I mean it when I say this: Good luck. Please, do better next time. Please, all of us, do better next time,” he said.

“Do not forget your humanity and please have empathy for displaced people, whether they’re in the Palisades or Palestine,” he added, referencing the Los Angeles wildfires which have largely destroyed the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, among other areas.

Prior to Chappelle’s speech, there were, of course, a lot of jokes.

He first walked out on stage smoking a cigarette and began his set joking about how he declined “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels’ initial offer to host the first episode after the 2024 election. “Nah, I’m good,” he recalled replying.

Chappelle then joked he was eventually convinced to come back as host when he realized he would be able use it as an opportunity to “get rid of” old jokes about Trump, so he said yes.

He also joked about how he tried to understand why it seemed like everyone else in Hollywood was invited to Combs’ “freak-off” parties prior to the embattled rapper’s arrest except for him.

Chappelle chalked it up to having “snitch energy,” adding that “I look like I’ll tell.”

GloRilla was musical guest on the episode. Timothée Chalamet will act as host and musical guest on next week’s episode of “Saturday Night Live.”