SNL Weekend Update Wins Over Crowd With Scorching Epstein-Trump Jokes

SNL‘s Weekend Update was sizzling tonight — going no frills and eschewing guests, bits and standup sets — with numerous shots taken at President Donald Trump‘s expense following the release of hundreds and thousands of Jeffrey Epstein emails this week further implicating the GOP leader’s involvement in the the disgraced mogul’s sex trafficking operation.

“Well, the longest government shutdown in history finally ended after 43 days, and you know, first day back in the office, you gotta check all those piled-up emails,” co-host Colin Jost began, kicking off a relentless torrent of jokes.

He continued: “House Democrats released an email written by Jeffrey Epstein in which he claims that Donald Trump ‘knew about the girls.’ It’s bombshell news that legal experts are calling ‘duh.’”

Taking things over, Michael Che earned some of the biggest reactions of the night.

“In one of the emails, Epstein’s brother asked if Vladimir Putin has a picture of Donald Trump giving oral sex to someone named Bubba, which was an old nickname for Bill Clinton, so I guess that’s one job that Trump has created,” he said, adding that while he doesn’t know for sure if the allegation is true, the thought of it is nonetheless “burned in my brain like that scene from The Shining.”

The co-anchor then referenced an email in which Epstein said he was the only figure “able to take Trump down, which is pretty big talk for a guy who lost to a bedsheet.” The lob at Epstein’s demise — ruled as a suicide by hanging via a shirt or sheet — garnered shocked reactions from the audience.

Che then passed the baton back to Jost, who quipped: “Trump’s like the Forrest Gump of meeting famous pedophiles.”

This week, headlines were also dominated by Trump’s ongoing spat with BBC, the U.K. broadcaster he accused of editing his Jan. 6 speech in a misleading manner and for which he has since threatened legal action. Che, apparently conceding the point, then offered to air the real footage, which resulted in a spliced video of Trump saying: “Everybody knows I went down on Bill Clinton.”

In another hit at Trump, Che said the POTUS “denied online rumors that the gold decorations in the Oval Office came from Home Depot, even though he has a whole team of guys taking stuff from Home Depot all the time,” as the screen flashed an image of ICE agents. Following a loud, shocked reaction from the crowd, Che dubbed the segment his “favorite episode.”

Jost, meanwhile, discussed coffee brand Maxwell House’s temporary rebranding as Maxwell Apartment “to better reflect current times, though it’s much better than their first choice: Ghislaine Maxwell House.”

As a bonus, Che addressed the cessation of penny production with a perfect pun: “The U.S. Mint this week stopped producing new pennies. Doesn’t make sense [cents].” After audience enthusiasm for the joke, Che offered another option: “One last severe blow to Lincoln’s head.” Following a more mixed response, he stood corrected: “I’ll do the first one.”

Watch Weekend Update below.