Ramy Youssef on 'Saturday Night Live'
(Video: yes, +STING)
Actor and comedian Ramy Youssef hosted the popular American satire and sketch show Saturday Night Live on NBC Saturday night, and addressed the war between Israel and Gaza, Ramadan and upcoming U.S. elections in his opening monologue.
“This is an incredibly spiritual weekend. We’re in the holy month of Ramadan, tomorrow is Easter, and yesterday Beyoncé released a new album. There’s just so many religions celebrating all at once,” Youssef began.
The Muslim comedian added: “I love Ramadan because I love hanging out with Muslims,” he said. “We’re so loving and I feel like people don’t know that about us. They know all these other things. But man, we love to love and we’re so free with it.”
Continuing his monologue, Youssef revealed he ןs one of the few among his friends who prays, and therefore his friends, whom he jokingly called "sinners and disgusting people," ask him to pray for them when they encounter various troubles.
He said a friend who was arguing with his ex-girlfriend in court over who would take their dog after their breakup called him and asked him to pray for the dog, contrasting it with another case where a friend called him about his entire family, who are in Gaza. “He goes, ‘Ramy. They’re suffering. I don’t know where half of them are. I don’t know what to do. Please pray for them. It’s the only thing we can do.'”
“So that night I go to pray and my prayers are … complicated. I’ve got a lot to fit in. My God, please, please help Ahmed’s family. Please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please. free the people of Palestine. Please. And please free the hostages, all of the hostages, please,” Youssef said, and received loud cheers from the audience.
“And while you’re at it, I mean, you know, free Mr. Bojangles. I mean he is, he’s a beautiful dog. I’m praying for that dog,” he added.
This isn’t the first time Youssef has spoken out in favor of a cease-fire in Gaza, as he was among the artists who called for a pause in fighting at the recent Oscars ceremony.
Youssef also addressed U.S. politics and the elections in his monologue, expressing his concern that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has supporters around the world, not only in the southern United States.
“So I live in New York; we’re in this bubble and, and we think like everything we disagree with is in the South, but I don’t believe in the South. There is no South. Like the South is 45 minutes away from wherever you are. I had a show in upstate New York. I was walking through the neighborhood. There’s all this Trump stuff. Flags, red hats. I was like, yo, I went north but I’m south, and I could feel it,” he said.
Youssef didn’t spare U.S. President Joe Biden as well in his speech, saying: “I know Biden’s gonna call, I know he’s gonna call me. I mean, well, he probably, he’ll probably forget, but I think somebody will call. Like in 2020, I got a call from Mohammed Biden. … He goes, ‘Ramy, habibi, we love you. We love everything that you’ve done for Arab America, right?’ He said it like it was a country. ‘Everyone on the campaign is such a big fan of your work.’ And Joe’s aware. That’s huge, right? Because Joe has an awareness issue. I mean, Joe’s aware — that’s like a Nobel Peace Prize.”
He also added that he doesn't like either choice for president between Biden and Trump and received applause from the audience when he said he thought the next president should be a woman, and then clarified that he meant a transgender woman.
“I’ve been thinking about her. I really have, like, imagine her speech. It would be so inspiring. She’d be like, ‘A lot of politicians talk about change.’ Like you can see the bumper sticker, right? Like, ‘Real change.'”