FUNNY PAGES | ‘Crazy’: Comedians Skewer Trump Not as Dangerous -- But As A Buffoon
The way late-night TV hosts have mocked the former president has certainly changed lately
Editor’s Note: “The Funny Pages” is our occasional look at the intersection of late-night TV comedians with the politics and issues of our day.
How comedians poke fun at a given subject can reflect how society at large views that subject.
So it follows that how a comedian skewers that subject will change as society’s perception changes, as well.
Such certainly is the case of Donald Trump.
Once derided as much for his outsized authoritarian tendencies and sense of menace as much as for his personal foibles, comedians lately have been jabbing Trump simply for being “crazy” and seeming to let this election slip away from him.
“I have to say, I think he is flailing right now. He said so much crazy stuff this weekend,” Jimmy Kimmel observed during the monologue during his Monday show. “He said he wanted to close the Department of Education. He again claimed he won the debate by a lot. He threatened to prosecute Google because he believes they show bad search results about him. He said the people you see leaving his rallies, it looks like they’re leaving, but they’re not really leaving. He complained that Fox News shouldn’t be allowed to show his opponent Kamala Harris speaking. He rambled more about Kamala not working at McDonald’s. He referred to migrants as animals. He suggested that the way to end crime would be to have one really violent day, one rough hour that would solve everything, like The Purge, and so much more.
“If anyone in your life had a weekend like this, you’d be concerned. Like, if your dad had a series of similar outbursts, you’d call your siblings to figure out what to do,” Kimmel quipped.
Meanwhile, on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart set up a long bit about how disconnected Trump is from reality, observing how on the campaign trail he falsely portrays a deadly, crime-ridden nation while his allies insist that the Republican nominee has skills and accomplishments that he simply doesn’t possess.
“Oh, wait. I see! This fictional Trump, who is portrayed as much better than he actually is, is running to be president of a country he paints as much worse than it actually is,” Stewart quipped. “But I got to tell you, whatever country that is — where families are routinely murdered several times while making breakfast — could really use actual Donald Trump. The rest of us? Not so much.”
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