Colin Jost joked that JD Vance might kill Pope Leo at his then-upcoming inaugural mass.
“The White House also announced that Vice President JD Vance will travel to the Vatican for Pope Leo’s inaugural mass,” Jost said during the “Weekend Update” portion of Saturday Night Live‘s series finale.
An image of the VP dressed as the grim reaper then appeared on screen, setting off peals of laughter from the audience.
“I’m not a huge fan of his outfit,” he added.
The grim reaper outfit was a reference to commentary over Vance’s last visit to the Vatican in April, when Pope Francis died hours after meeting with the vice president. Comedians and online commentators alike have since joked that Vance killed Francis.
Last week, SNL also joked about the vice president’s final visit with Francis, James Austin Johnson’s Trump saying that Vance has “got the Midas touch but for bad things.”
“We like Pope Leo. We hope he does what we want,” he said. “Otherwise, I’ll have to send JD back to do his thing. Remember the last time JD met the pope?”
Johnson also noted that Vance “meets the pope, dead! Goes to India, war! He joins my campaign, Trump wins! He’s really incredible, bad things happen in threes.”
Francis was publicly critical of the Trump administration during his papacy, a sentiment Leo echoed during his inaugural speech Sunday.
“In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth‘s resources and marginalizes the poorest,” he said in Italian.
Among those in attendance at Sunday’s mass were Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Trump notably absent.
Before assuming his role as pope, Leo had expressed his criticism of the Trump administration on a now-deleted X account under his name, posting op-eds denouncing JD Vance and the administration.
