Ramy Youssef’s ‘SNL’ Monologue Takes Dig at Biden, Offers Prayers for Palestine & Hostages (VIDEO)

While making his hosting debut on Saturday Night Live this weekend, Ramy Youssef prayed for God to free the people of Palestine and all of the hostages taken in the Israel-Hamas War.

“I’m out of ideas. All I have are prayers. That’s all I can do right now,” Youssef explained. “And in my friend group, I’m one of the only guys who prays. I’m friends with a lot of sinners, like, just disgusting people. And they call me when they’re in trouble because they want me to pray for them.”

The Poor Things actor went on to explain that he recently had two friends call and ask him to pray for them, but for drastically different reasons. One friend has been in court with ex-girlfriend for the last 10 months fighting over who gets to keep their dog, Mr. Bojangles, and his other friend has family in Gaza who are suffering.

“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,'” Youssef said. “I’m like, ‘Dude, I got you.’ So that night, I go to pray, and my prayers are complicated. I’ve got a lot to fit in. I’m like, ‘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 the hostages, please.'”

Youssef continued, joking, “‘And while you’re at it, you know, free Mr. Bojangles.’ He’s a beautiful dog. I’m praying for that dog.”

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During his monologue, Youssef also talked about the upcoming 2024 Presidential elections, claiming, “I don’t like either option, to be honest with you.”

“I really think our next president should be a woman,” Youssef said, which was met with loud claps and cheers from the audience. “You know what I mean? Like, that would be amazing.”

But when he added, “I think our next president should be a trans woman,” Youssef was met with much less excitement. “A little less support, yeah. That’s New York, right? New York’s like, ‘We’re liberal, but we’re Italian. Watch out!”

Youssef also shared that he had previously been contacted by a man named Muhammad who was working on the Joe Biden campaign for the 2020 Presidential election and claimed, “We love everything that you’ve done for Arab America.”

When Muhammad had gone on to say that President Joe Biden was aware of the comedian, he joked, saying, “That’s huge, right? Because Joe has an awareness issue. I mean, ‘Joe’s aware.’ That’s like a Nobel Peace Prize.” Watch the full monologue above.

Youssef is widely-known for the Hulu comedy series Ramy, which he both created and starred in. His SNL hosting debut this weekend, which featured Travis Scott as the musical guest, was to promote the release of his second HBO comedy special More Feelings, which premiered on March 23.

Saturday Night Live, Saturdays, 11:29/10:29c, NBC and Peacock