Comedian Shane Gillis performed standup at a New York City club mere days after NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” cut the newly-named cast member from the sketch show for past offensive jokes.
During his routine, Gillis addressed the controversy surrounding his axing and made jokes about President Donald Trump, including a controversial bit about the president being shot.
“It’s been weird,” Gillis said, referring to the “SNL” axing, reported USA Today. “Twitter, obviously, has been nuts. You try to stay off it when the whole country hates you. That’s not a fun feeling.”
“Everybody’s like, ‘You can’t say (expletive) and not expect consequences,’” the comic said. “I’m fine with the consequences – that’s it, I’m not arguing. But I do want everyone to know that I have been reading every one of my death threats in an Asian accent.”
Gillis was called to be fired by media figures after journalists posted video clips of the comedian using a mocking Asian accent and saying the word “chink” during a podcast. He also used “homophobic” language, according to The New York Times.
“As soon as they decide you’re a bad guy, you’re just alt-right now or something,” Gillis continued.
The comic, recycling a bit he’s previously performed, jokingly winked to the crowd as he assured them that he definitely did not vote for President Trump.
“For real, though, I did not vote for Donald Trump,” he said, winking to the crowd. “Look at me: I didn’t, but that was tough. His whole campaign was at me. ‘Are you a fat idiot?’ ‘Yeah, dude, what’re we doing?’”
“Trump is funny,” the comic said. “He’s funnier than everyone I know. If Trump was the next comic, he’d bury me. He’d come out and be like, ‘Fat. Loser. Fired.'”
To prove he’s not “too pro-Trump,” the comic then joked about a hypothetical assassination of the president, which he said would be “funny.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m too pro-Trump,” Gillis said. “I will say this: Of all the presidents I’ve been alive for, Trump would definitely be the funniest one to see get shot. Like, without a doubt, that’d be funny. I’m not asking for that; I don’t want that to happen, but it would be funny to see. He’d be on stage talking (expletive), the shooter would be coming at him, and he’d be like, ‘Sit down.’ He’d definitely make a funny noise when he got hit. … It would be funny.”
To close out his set, Gillis joked about “Woke” culture, according to USA Today, telling the crowd that he’s “white trash” and has friends from the Left and the Right.
“It’s funny to hear so many people these days say, ‘I’m not racist,'” Gillis said. “It’s like, are you sure? Being racist isn’t like a yes or no thing. It’s not like you do or you don’t have it. Being racist is like being hungry: It’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re not right now, but a cheeseburger could cut you off in traffic and you could get hungry real quick. You didn’t even know you were hungry for that type of cheeseburger.’ The cheeseburger is not Asian in that joke.”
Related: WATCH: Bill Burr, Jim Jefferies React To ‘SNL’ Firing Shane Gillis, Blast ‘Cancel Culture’