Backlash Grows Against SNL Sketch on University Anti-Semitism Hearing

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) questions Harvard University President Claudine Gay at a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on alleged campus anti-Semitism in Washington on Dec. 5, 2023. (House Committee on Education and the Workforce/Screenshot via NTD)

Backlash continues to build against NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) over its recent sketch that parodied the testimony by three presidents of the nation’s top universities regarding alleged anti-Semitism on their campuses.

The sketch, which was broadcast on Dec. 9, featured the testimony of Claudine Gay, Sally Kornbluth, and Liz Magill—the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania—as they were questioned during a House hearing on anti-Semitism.

The skit mocked Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) despite the Republican congresswoman addressing serious questions at the real-life hearing about calls for genocide against Jews on college campuses. The academic leaders were criticized for failing to immediately condemn any calls for genocide. Ms. Stefanik asked them whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate their school’s codes of conducts.

Viewers Don’t See the Comedy

While SNL presented the congressional testimonies as a laughing matter with the show’s cast members providing sarcastic responses, real-life consequences came for UPenn’s Ms. Magill, who was forced to resign after the backlash.

“SNL made history with the worst cold open ever because everyone knows there is absolutely no humor in the vile answers from the university presidents regarding their failure to condemn calls for the genocide of the Jewish people,” Ms. Stefanik’s senior adviser Alex deGrasse told the Daily Mail.

He also said her office has been “flooded” with messages from both Republicans and Democrats who were “appalled and disgusted by the anti-Semitic trash spewed by unfunny, morally bankrupt ‘comedians.’'’

“The sketch is awful, full stop. The satirical target is the GOP congresswoman, not the three morally warped Ivy League presidents who can’t call out evil and wallow in free speech hypocrisy,” said Christian Toto, host of “The Hollywood in Toto Podcast.”

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“It’s stunning that SNL writers learned about the Capitol Hill testimony and decided that Rep. Stefanik was the one to be mocked.”

Online Criticism Over SNL Depiction

The sketch received criticism online from media personalities, everyday citizens, and others in academia.

Fox News’ “The Five” host Greg Gutfeld was one of many critics of the sketch, writing on X: “How to explain SNL siding with Ivy league neoracists? Wondering what colleges their writers attended.”

Former State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert accused the NBC show of “hating Republicans more than anti-Semitism.”

Conservative radio host Larry Elder wrote on X: “It had been awhile since I watched SNL. I quickly remembered why. Cringeworthy. Why isn’t it antisemitic to mock a critic of anti-semitism for her criticism of anti-semitism?”

Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) also weighed in on X, demanding “nothing short of full fledged apology from the entire staff of SNL” following the skit.

“Attacking @repStefanik instead of the antisemitic Progressive Presidents rings of their own antisemitism. Typical damn liberal hypocrisy,” he wrote.

Stefanik Calls for More Resignations

In a statement Saturday, Ms. Stefanik said Ms. Magill’s “forced resignation” is the “bare minimum of what is required.” She said Harvard and MIT should follow suit.

“One down. Two to go,” Ms. Stefanik said. “This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of anti-Semitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America.”

Since the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, universities across the country have been accused of failing to protect Jewish students amid rising fears of anti-Semitism worldwide. That’s while fallout from Israel’s intensifying war in Gaza faces heightened criticism in light of the mounting Palestinian death toll.

Still, the landmark comedy series chose to poke fun at the hearing meant to address the growing problem in the United States and did so by focusing mainly on Ms. Stefanik.

Mr. Toto said: “It speaks to the lack of intellectual diversity in the SNL writers room. That said, we don’t need to apologize for bad jokes. Ever. SNL swung and missed. Badly. That’s where it should end.”

The Epoch Times reached out to NBCUniversal for comment.