‘s Michael Che joked about Stewart Rhodes’ eye patch days after the leader of the Oath Keepers was arrested on sedition charges for allegedly spending months coordinating the January 6 riot.
Che introduced the news about Rhodes’ recent arrest on multiple charges, including the rarely used ‘seditious conspiracy.’
‘But I don’t know, he looks pretty remorseful,’ Che said. ‘Hopefully he can patch things up.’
The Weekend Update host then seemed to backtrack on his joke.
‘That wasn’t an eye joke. I was being genuine,’ he said to cautious laughter before doubling down.
‘Rhodes is being accused of messaging his right-wing group with instructions on how to use force to attack the Capitol. Authorities knew the messages were from Rhodes because they all began with ‘Arr, matey,'” he said.
‘That wasn’t an eye joke,’ he insisted. ‘It wasn’t an eye joke,’ added co-host Colin Jost.
In 2020, SNL cast member Pete Davison said he was ‘forced to apologize’ to Rep. Dan Crenshaw in 2018 after making a joke about his eye patch, which he wears in public – in place of a glass eye – due to an injury he sustained while serving as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan, according to
Weekend Update host joked about an eye patch worn by Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes on Saturday. Rhodes has been charged with sedition for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot
‘Rhodes is being accused of messaging his right-wing group with instructions on how to use force to attack the Capitol. Authorities knew the messages were from Rhodes because they all began with ‘Arr, matey,'” Che said
In 2020, SNL cast member Pete Davidson said he was ‘forced to apologize’ to Rep. Dan Crenshaw live on air in 2018 (above) after making a joke about the congressman’s eye patch, which he wears as a consequence of a roadside bomb during his time in Afghanistan
Elmer Stewart Rhodes, 56, appeared in court in Plano, Texas on Friday a day after being hit with an indictment that named another 10 people, all of whom are members of his far-right militia group.
He was ordered held in federal custody until a detention hearing on January 20.
He lost his eye in 1993 after he dropped a loaded handgun that shot him in the face, an event that inspired him to enroll in community college at age 28, according to the Rhodes is believed to be the first person who did not actually go inside the building to be criminally charged over the riot.
Stewart Rhodes, shown in his booking photo on Thursday, appeared in court in Plano, Texas, on Friday to plead not guilty to seditious conspiracy
Prosecutors say he commanded his followers from outside, and that he’d spent months plotting the invasion over texts and encrypted messaging services. If convicted, he faces 20 years behind bars.
Before the hearing, his attorney Jonathan Moseley told DailyMail.com that he was innocent, and that much of the evidence the prosecution included in the indictment had been taken out of context.
‘They planned to come to DC to help with the demonstration. They were planning that – they didn’t plan to break windows and beat police. They believe these charges are misguided. We’re going to have to require the government to put the entire documents in front of the court.
‘There were a lot of hypothetical discussions and discussions about other events. A lot of these things weren’t about January 6, they were about a rally in November and one on December 12. They were taken out of context and out of relevance.
‘All of these horrible sounding conversations need to be put in to context. Some of them are observations, like “this is getting bad” or “this is going in a bad direction.”
Elmer Stewart Rhodes, 56, appeared in court in Plano, Texas, to be arraigned on Friday a day after being hit with an indictment that named another 10 people, all of whom are members of his far-right militia group. Pictured: Media wait outside the courthouse ahead of the hearing
Several accused Oath Keeper rioters are seen in this picture released by the Department of Justice taken on January 6
Federal officials argue that Rhodes and his cohorts came to Washington DC intent on stopping lawmakers from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory
‘But saying “we think there will be a civil war” does not mean they wanted to start one,’ he said.
He added that unlike the others named in the indictment, Rhodes wasn’t ‘dumb enough’ to go inside.
‘Stewart Rhodes was their leader but he didn’t go inside. He said, “I wasn’t dumb enough to go in.” When he found out they did, he said: “Why’d you do that?” He’s been around a while. He knows it’s dumb.
Earlier, Rhodes’ ex-wife appeared on CNN to call him a ‘sociopath’ who she said she lived in fear of. She said she felt ‘so much relief’ when she read that he was in custody, and that ‘it felt like there was a weight’ that had been lifted.
‘I lived in fear that he might show up here. Just setting that weight down, knowing I’m safe and that my kids are safe, my kids school doesn’t have to worry. That was a kind of relief I didn’t know existed,’ Tasha Adams said.
‘He is a dangerous man. He is very dangerous. He lives very much in his own head, he sees himself as a great leader. He almost has his own mythology of himself. I think he almost made it come true as seeing himself as a figure in history.
Rhodes’ ex-wife Tasha Adams appeared on CNN on Friday to blast him as a ‘complete sociopath’ who she said she lived in fear of
‘He’s a complete sociopath. He doesn’t feel empathy for ok google configurar mi dispositivo anyone around.’
In all, 19 members of associates of the Oath Keepers faces charges of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding by traveling to Washington intent on stopping lawmakers from declaring Biden the election winner.
The Oath Keepers is a far-right antigovernment group that claims tens of thousands of present and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The group is based ‘on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy Americans’ liberties,’ the hate group tracker says.
Che’s joke isn’t the first time a SNL cast member has made fun of an eye malady in recent history.
Just before the 2018 midterms, Davidson joked about Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican who was then running for the US House.
Davidson – who is now dating Kim Kardashian – said he was ‘surprised he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porno movie.’
‘I’m sorry. I know he lost his eye in war or whatever,’ he said.
Before the 2018 midterms, Davidson joked that he was surprised Crenshaw was ‘a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porno movie’ and added, ‘I’m sorry. I know he lost his eye in war or whatever’
A week later, Davidson apologized to Crenshaw live on air, with Crenshaw taking a jab at Davidson’s then-recent breakup with singer Ariana Grande
Rep. Crenshaw wears an eye patch in public in place of a glass eye. He lost his eye while serving as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan.
In his 2020 comedy special Alive from New York, Davison said he got death threats for the joke and was ‘forced to apologize.’
‘My roommate thought I should apologize so that I didn’t get shot in the face,’ Davidson said, referring to his mother as his ‘roommate.’
Davidson apologized on air a week after making the joke on air with Crenshaw a week after making the joke.
‘Thanks for making a Republican look good,’ Crenshaw joked before his cell phone went off with a ringtone of a song by Ariana Grande, who Davidson had broken up with a month earlier after a high-profile relationship.
On Saturday, Davidson appeared as Joe Biden from an alternative universe, without a T-shirt and his chest covered in tattoos, during SNL’s cold open.
During a sketch that referenced the latest Spiderman movie, in which all three actors who have played the comic book character over the last 20 years appeared, Davidson’s Biden showed up to tell the audience that they were living in the ‘bad universe’ while he had come from ‘the real world.’
Pete Davidson, left, appeared as a second President Biden from an alternative universe, a nod to Spider-Man’s ‘multiverse’ concept with James Austin Johnson
SNL’s cold open saw Joe Biden urging people to stop seeing Spider-Man
The sketch paid homage to Spider-Man, which sees three actors playing the comic book star
‘Everyone on Earth is better off in the real world, except one man named Pete Davidson. Your world is maybe more fun for him,’ he joked with a smirk.
The sketch show returned for its first show of 2022 with a new cast member for this season, James Austin Johnson, playing Joe Biden and urging people to stop seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home as a way of curbing spiking coronavirus infection numbers.
The film has been a box office smash with $880 million in receipts globally.
‘America, I’m here to tell you, there’s one simple thing you can do to start making this virus go away: stop seeing Spider-Man.’
James Austin Johnson’s Biden explained how the start of the latest Omicron surge appeared to correlate to the film’s opening last month.
‘Think about it. When did Spider-Man come out? December 17. When did every single person get omicron? The week after Spider-Man came out. The week after December 17. Stop seeing Spider-Man. That’s really all I have to say.’
Biden was then asked by a member of the press if he wanted to see people stop going to the movies
‘Do you think all COVID will end if people stopped going to the movies?’ Bowen Yang who was playing a reporter asked.
Biden explained what he meant.
‘I didn’t say don’t go to the movies. I said stop seeing Spider-Man. See anything else. I saw the first half hour of House of Gucci. That’s more than enough movie for anyone,’ as he took a stab at the Ridley Scott film in which Lady Gaga plays Maurizio Gucci’s ex-wife.
Biden explained how theater-goers flocking to see Spider-Man was behind the current surge.
‘Everyone in America has seen Spider-Man like eight times. Everyone in America also has COVID.’
