In 2001, outgoing Clinton White House staffers caused problems for the incoming George W. Bush administration by removing the letter “W” from keyboards and pulling other pranks, causing thousands of dollars of damage.
Outgoing President George W. Bush pledged that his administration would provide a smooth, prank-free transition to incoming President Barack Obama, and Obama likewise pledged that his team would do the same for Trump. But in 2019, a White House spokesperson revealed that incoming Trump staff found notes waiting for them that said things such as “you will fail” and “you aren’t going to make it.”
When news of the notes was made public, former Obama aides denied it, including former National Security Adviser Susan Rice who called it a “bald faced lie.”
Well… it turns out the story is true, but it was celebrities who left the notes. That’s according to comedian Dave Chappelle, who said in in a recent interview that he witnessed it happen. (Remarks start at about the 13:50 minute mark.)
“It was one of the last big parties the Obamas threw, and I’m not gonna say these celebrities’ names,” Chappelle said, but “There was a thing. Remember when the Trump administration moved in, they said, ‘The Obama staff left dirty notes for us in all the drawers and all the cabinets.’ Now, now, I saw this happening.”
“And I’m not gonna say who did it,” he continued. “But it was celebrities writing all this crazy shit and putting it all over there and I saw them doing it, so when I saw that on the news I laughed real hard.”
Chappelle did not say whether he himself took part in writing the notes, but during his 2016 Saturday Night Live monologue following the presidential election, he talked about attending a BET-sponsored party at the White House and what it meant to him. In that monologue, Chappelle said that, “I’m wishing Donald Trump luck, and I’m going to give him a chance, and we the historically disenfranchised demand that he give us one too.”
Six months later Chappelle apologized for saying he was going to give Trump a chance, saying during a stand-up set that, “I fucked up. Sorry.”
Chappelle endorsed Andrew Yang in the 2020 Democratic primary and campaigned on his behalf.
RELATED: Comedian Bill Burr uses SNL monologue to mock Woke white women
Join the Discussion