During the most recent episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, new cast member Emil Wakim claimed that “the real American dream” is to be the non-white immigrant who eventually becomes a Republican and says to others, “No, sorry, sorry, white guys only.” Later in his address, Wakim would also attack critics of people like Gays for Gaza, telling them that “If you want them to be gay, just stop bombing them.”
Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost set things up by wondering, “So, how are you feeling going into the election?”
Wakim began, “I feel good. I know who I’m voting for, but I don’t know who my dad is voting for, you know, because my dad’s an immigrant, but, like, he made it in this country, like he made it against all odds, like he made it so hard that he's a Republican now.”
For Wakim, being a Republican means being a racist, “Like, that's—that's the real American dream. To go from, like, village in Lebanon to being like, ‘no, no, don't let more in. No, sorry about that. No, sorry, sorry, white guys only. Come on, Kyle, let’s go play pickleball.’”
Jost then sought to have Wakim elaborate about Lebanon, “I guess that is a dream, yes. Do you still have family in Lebanon?”
Wakim then did a bit about how people view someone like him who was “raised Christian” as less threatening and that his dad would try to insist, “You know, you don’t have to say we’re Arab, we’re not Arab, we’re Christian Lebanese, it’s different. We’re European, we're like the French.”
Towards the end of that particular bender, Wakim turned to current Middle East news, “We're Italian guys. We talk with our hands, we kiss our buddies on the mouths, we're just like ‘I love my mother,’ But, then we bombed the Middle East forever, so they went from ‘I love my mother’ to [unintelligent noises]. Like that’s how we got there, you know.”
Is it? The idea that the Middle East was lovey-dovey and then America came along and started bombing people is absurd. When people in the Middle East aren’t fighting Americans or Israelis, they are busy fighting each other. Still, Wakim proceeded to torch a strawman, “I don’t think people aren't being honest with how they feel about stuff over there, you know? Like a lot of young people now are for gay rights and women's rights will be like ‘Free Palestine, Free Gaza,’ and people on the other side are being like, ‘Oh, gays for Gaza, huh? Oh, go be gay in Gaza, see how they like it over there. That’s why we’re going over there.’ Like, as if that's why America goes to war. Because we love women and gay people so much.”
Literally nobody has said the reason why Israel is at war with Hamas or the reason why the U.S. has gone to war has been because of gay rights. It’s just to point out that people who subscribe to an intersectional worldview allow their brains to be turned into mush.
However, Wakim was not done, “Like, as if that's why America goes to war. Because we love women and gay people so much. Like, also, if you want them to be gay, just stop bombing them, like, they’ll get to gay, you know? They're busy. They don't have time to be like, ‘who am I in the deepest parts of my—’ You can't watch your village get blown up and be like, "I think I'm bisexual actually.” Like, that's not.
The fact that Gaza isn’t gay friendly isn’t just stereotyping about Arabs or Muslims, it, contrary to what Wakim’s jesting implies, is real.
In other SNL Weekend Update news, immediately preceding Wakim's talk, co-anchor Michael Che said of the Catholic Church, "'The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has reached a settlement in hundreds of child sex-abuse cases and will pay out $880 million. An amount that priests called 'worth it.'"
Bigotry against imams and rabbis? Unthinkable. But Che on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" can smear all priests:
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) October 21, 2024
"The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has reached a settlement in hundreds of child sex-abuse cases and will pay out $880 million. An amount that priests called 'worth it.'" pic.twitter.com/RT86NwxIhK
Here is a transcript for the October 19 show:
NBC Saturday Night Live
10/20/2024
12:22 AM ET
COLIN JOST: Hi, Emil, welcome, so, how are you feeling going into the election?
EMIL WAKIM: I feel good. I know who I’m voting for, but I don’t know who my dad is voting for, you know, because my dad’s an immigrant, but, like, he made it in this country, like he made it against all odds, like he made it so hard that he's a Republican now. Like, that's -- that's the real American dream. To go from, like, village in Lebanon to being like, [ARAB ACCENT] “no, no, don't let more in. No, sorry about that. No, sorry, sorry, white guys only. Come on, Kyle, let’s go play pickleball.”
JOST: I guess that is a dream, yes. Do you still have family in Lebanon?
WAKIM: Yeah, I do, and you know it's very scary now, but, you know, my dad always worries about me because I talk about being Arab and he's like, [ARAB ACCENT] “You know, you don’t have to say we’re Arab, we’re not Arab, we’re Christian Lebanese, it’s different. We’re European, we're like the French.”
And I'm like "Ask the French if they think we're the French." They're like, “we're good, thanks.”
Christian Arabs are a very funny part of this. You know, anytime stuff starts going down over there they always like to pop out to be like, “not us.”
It's like a bunch of Lebanese dudes with unibrows being like, [FRENCH ACCENT “Bonjour, we are the white ones.”
JOST: So, you’re saying that the Christian part helps.
WAKIM: Yes, for sure, you know, I've lived all over the country, no matter how liberal or conservative of an area I’m in when people find out I was raised Christian, I can feel them just relax a little bit, you know, even in this room, like, I feel people’s shoulders drop when they find out your family are Christian Arabs. They're like, “oh, he's cool.”
They're just, like, a little less afraid of you, you know? Christian Arabs, we're kind of like, we’re like black dudes with anime backpacks. Racist guys are like, “I don't love it, but I'm not going to cross the street anymore. It’s fine. He skateboards. Okay, whatever”
JOST: I guess I see that, sure.
WAKIM: See, we're not that different from other groups? Arabs are not just like violent people by nature. We're really just another group of hairy, sweaty, passionate guys, you know? Like what is an Arab, but a Greek that you’re kind of afraid of?
You know what I mean? We're right there. We're Italian guys. We talk with our hands, we kiss our buddies on the mouths, we're just like, [ITALIAN ACCENT] “I love my mother.”
But, then we bombed the Middle East forever, so they went from [ITALIAN ACCENT] “I love my mother” to [unintelligent noises]. Like that’s how we got there, you know. Colin wrote that joke for me.
I don’t think people aren't being honest with how they feel about stuff over there, you know? Like a lot of young people now are for gay rights and women's rights will be like “Free Palestine, Free Gaza,” and people on the other side are being like, “Oh, Gays for Gaza, huh? Oh, go be gay in Gaza, see how they like it over there. That’s why we’re going over there.”
Like, as if that's why America goes to war. Because we love women and gay people so much. Like, also, if you want them to be gay, just stop bombing them, like, they’ll get to gay, you know? They're busy. They don't have time to be like “who am I in the deepest parts of my—”
You can't watch your village get blown up and be like, "I think I'm bisexual actually.” Like, that's not –
JOST: Emil Wakim everyone.
