SNL Runs Defense For El-Sayed, Decoy Dan, But Accuses Israel Of Genocide

NBC's Saturday Night Live Weekend Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost wrapped up their midterm campaigning recently by suggesting that Republicans are getting people killed because of their welfare reform programs and that the real comedy with the Decoy Dan scandal in Alaska is not with Democratic trickery but with Boston, Massachusetts. Sandwiched in-between those jokes, Che's anti-Semitism resurfaced with a bit about alleged Israeli genocide.

Che began by recalling Sen. Ted Cruz's closing arguments against Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, "Ted Cruz said that if Abdul El-Sayed is elected to Senate, there is a very real risk Americans will die as a result. Then he went back to the Senate to cut health care and food stamps."

Of course, Che left out the part of Cruz's statement where he was talking about El-Sayed's affinity for the Muslim Brotherhood. However, Che kept rolling in order to talk about another country's elections, "This week, a record number of people voted in Israel's election, which is great to see regardless if you're on the right side or the left side or the genocide."

SNL's Michael Che had a couple whoppers recently, including one about Republicans killing people and another about Israel, "Ted Cruz said if Abdul El-Sayed is elected to Senate, there is a very real risk Americans will die as a result. Then he went back to the Senate to cut… pic.twitter.com/BGP4xzB8vU

— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) November 3, 2026

Che's Israel remarks went viral on social media, and one particularly dumb response came from a Variety article by Marlow Stern headlined, '"SNL' Weekend Update Finally Weighs in on Israel.'"

Stern is the same guy who recently got triggered at Bill Maher for interviewing former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. While it may be tempting to argue that nobody was actually waiting with bated breath for SNL to talk about Israel, the truth is that Michael Che can't shut up about it.

While Che engages in libelous talk about genocide, he has also repeatedly trafficked in puppeteering tropes where he claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actually the one in charge of America's military. Back in September, he also declared, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed an almost empty chamber at the U.N. After delegates walked out in protest over Israel's war in Gaza. I guess wherever Netanyahu shows up, there's gonna be some relocating." 

Che's nasty remarks about Israel did not begin post-October 7. Back during COVID in 2021, he lied, "Israel is reporting that they vaccinated half of their population, and I'm going to guess it's the Jewish half."

A year before that, he claimed, "GoDaddy has shut down a website that hosts a 'Miss Hitler' beauty pageant. Coincidentally, 'Miss Hitler Beauty Pageant' was the working title for The Ingraham Angle. By the way, Colin, if you're wondering who the winner of the 'Miss Hitler' pageant was: Miss Israel."

Back in the present day, Jost kept up the fake news, "Vice President JD Vance, seen here letting Ozempic take the wheel, said that Alaska having two candidates with the last name Sullivan is the definition of electoral fraud. Which, if true, would invalidate every election in Boston history."

The scandal in Alaska isn't that there are two candidates with the same last name. It is that Democrats actively recruited someone with the same first and last name to try to be a spoiler. Jost also didn't accurately depict what Vance said. What he actually talked about was the dirty trick aspect of the situation, "When you put a person on the ballot explicitly to try to confuse voters, I think that's the definition of electoral fraud."

Coincidently, trying to trick the voters is exactly what Jost and Che tried to do by omitting crucial context from their "jokes."

Here is a transcript for the October 31-November 1 show:

NBC Saturday Night Live

11/1/2026

12:41 AM ET

MICHAEL CHE: Ted Cruz said that if Abdul El-Sayed is elected to Senate, there is a very real risk Americans will die as a result. Then he went back to the Senate to cut health care and food stamps. 

This week, a record number of people voted in Israel's election, which is great to see regardless if you're on the right side or the left side or the genocide.

COLIN JOST: Vice President JD Vance, seen here letting Ozempic take the wheel, said that Alaska having two candidates with the last name Sullivan is the definition of electoral fraud. Which, if true, would invalidate every election in Boston history.