John Mulaney’s Trump joke that landed him in hot water with Secret Service as he hosts SNL
John Mulaney’s Trump joke that landed him in hot water with Secret Service as he hosts SNL
Caroline Gaspich Sat, November 14, 2026 at 11:06 AM UTC
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John Mulaney was embroiled in controversy after delivering a risky joke on Saturday Night Live -Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited (Reach Publishing Services Limited)
John Mulaney is back to hosting Saturday Night Live after being embroiled in controversy over a risky joke back in 2020.
Mulaney is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend on November 14, along with musical guest Phoebe Bridgers. As fans are eagerly looking forward to the 44-year-old comedian's return to the sketch comedy show, we're revisiting one joke that left him in hot water with the Secret Service.
On February 29, 2020, Mulaney hosted SNL and delivered a joke about leap year being created by Julius Caesar. He said, "Leap Year began in the year 45 B.C. under Julius Caesar. This is true. He started the Leap Year to correct the calendar, and we still do it to this day."
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Mulaney continued, "Another thing that happened under Julius Caesar was he was such a powerful maniac that all the senators grabbed knives, and they stabbed him to death. That'd be an interesting thing if we brought that back now. I asked my lawyer if I could make that joke, and he said, 'Lemme call another lawyer.' And that lawyer said yes."
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After the show, conservatives took to social media criticizing the joke, arguing that by saying this, Mulaney was calling for Trump to be stabbed like Caesar. This then prompted the U.S. Secret Service to open a nine-month formal investigation into Mulaney from March to December 2020.
Mulaney delivered a controversial joke about Julius Caesar -Credit:NBC
Secret Service agents then contacted NBCUniversal's security team and reviewed the footage, but never interviewed Mulaney directly. The file was closed in December 2020 with no wrongdoing found, with the conclusion that the comedian never specifically mentioned Trump.
After the investigation closed, Mulaney appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he joked about the incident. He told the late-night host, "I guess they opened a file on me because of the joke, and I have to say, am I stoked there's a file open on me? Absolutely. Did I enjoy it in the moment? Not so much."
Some viewers thought Mulaney was threatening Donald Trump -Credit:Getty Images
He continued, "But the person vetting me was very understanding that the joke had nothing to do with Donald Trump. It was an elliptical reference to him. I didn't say anything about him." He jokingly added, In terms of risk assessment, no one who's ever looked at me thought I registered above a 1."
Mulaney was later also hit with backlash over a joke he delivered on SNL ahead of the 2020 election. During the appearance, Mulaney promised nothing would change in America no matter who wins the presidential election, implying that things would not improve under Joe Biden, as he had not yet dropped out of the race.
Mulaney has appeared on SNL many times -Credit:Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via Getty Images
Reflecting on the joke, Mulaney said to Kimmel, "Which I really didn't even agree with. I often say things on TV in front of 10 million people that I'm just kinda floatin' as ideas."
He added, "I should have said, 'I very much want one to win over the other, and there will be improvements if one wins. I flat-out forgot; I just forgot to do it. I ran the joke in like a field in Connecticut, and I was like, 'OK, let's rock 'n' roll.' And I never was like, 'Hey, don't you mean that one guy's worse than the other.'"
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
