# Colin Jost’s Muslim senator joke draws Islamophobia accusations against SNL

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/furious-woke-mob-turns-on-snl-after-colin-josts-unorthodox-islamic-joke-about-abdul-el-sayed-and-barack-obama/
- Published: 2026-11-08T19:34:18+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T19:47:24+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/tv/article-16275995/Woke-outrage-SNL-Colin-Jost-Islamic-El-Sayed-Obama.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Elections, Politics, Software, Technology, World

## Key points

- Jost’s Obama joke about El-Sayed drew accusations of Islamophobia.
- El-Sayed is the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.
- A separate Musk sketch also attracted criticism.

## Summary

Saturday Night Live faced criticism from liberal viewers after Colin Jost joked that Abdul El-Sayed was the first “openly Muslim” senator, as an image of Barack Obama appeared beside him. The joke alluded to unfounded claims about Obama’s religion and drew accusations online that the programme was Islamophobic.

El-Sayed is the first Muslim elected to the US Senate and has said his criticism is directed at Israel’s government, not Jewish people. Jost also joked about El-Sayed’s suggestion that Chuck Schumer be replaced as Senate majority leader, while the episode drew separate criticism from conservative viewers over a sketch mocking Elon Musk and his AI chatbot Grok.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.