Season 51 of NBC’s Saturday Night Live concluded with Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che hitting all the usual beats, including people loathing Vice President JD Vance so much that they want him or themselves dead, suggesting the country is racist, and Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier in the season, Jost raised the possibility of Second Lady Usha Vance killing herself to get away from JD, but this time Jost claimed that President Trump wants Vance himself dead, “According to a senior official, President Trump keeps a letter in the Resolute Desk addressed to Vice President JD Vance in the event he dies or is assassinated. The letter reads simply, ‘I wish it had been you.’”   SNL's season finale included the usual bits, including some JD Vance-death bits from Colin Jost, "According to a senior official, President Trump keeps a letter in the Resolute Desk addressed to Vice President JD Vance in the event he dies or is assassinated. The letter reads… pic.twitter.com/YbzfPHNKbA — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 19, 2026   Recently, Che suggested the Supreme Court had turned the clock back to the days of segregation and that Kamala Harris lost in 2024 because she is a black woman. Now, he lamented that Uncle Sam won’t give him reparations, “President Trump has rejected Iran's latest demands to end the war, including recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. war reparations. You want reparations from America? Get in line, honey.” Like the other late night comedy shows, SNL loves some Trump-Epstein jokes. The show has accused Trump of starting the war with Iran to distract from the Epstein files, and on Saturday’s show, David Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump character asked Epstein’s ghost (Will Ferrell) what heaven is like. When Weekend Update rolled around, Jost quipped, “Texas Senator John Cornyn has introduced legislation to rename a state highway ‘Trump Interstate’ because for some reason people associate Trump with traffic across state lines.”  Routines like that are how Jost and Che ended up telling 91 percent of their political jokes about conservatives throughout the whole season, but that does not necessarily convey how nasty Weekend Update can be. SNL may be seen as an American institution, but from an unhealthy obsession with deaths in the Second Family to unfounded allegations of racism, SNL is just another outpost of late night liberalism. Here is a transcript for the May 16 show: NBC Saturday Night Live 5/17/2026 12:18 AM ET COLIN JOST: According to a senior official, President Trump keeps a letter in the Resolute Desk addressed to Vice President JD Vance in the event he dies or is assassinated. The letter reads simply, "I wish it had been you." MICHAEL CHE: President Trump has rejected Iran's latest demands to end the war, including recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz and U.S. war reparations. You want reparations from America? Get in line, honey. JOST: Texas Senator John Cornyn has introduced legislation to rename a state highway “Trump Interstate” because for some reason people associate Trump with traffic across state lines.