It’s a shame that “Saturday Night Live” is on its annual summer break. Otherwise, we’d laugh about the show ignoring the scandals coming out of the Graham Platner camp.
Except it’s not actually funny.
Once upon a time, when a politician stepped on a rake, a crush of comedians would rise up to tease them. That fueled late-night king Johnny Carson’s decades-long reign, among many others.
Carlin. Sahl. Klein. Miller. Bruce.
Politicians, in turn, had to watch their backs. That was good for their political futures and good for the country, too.
Now, we have a new generation of political figures charitably described as comedy gold. Hunter Biden. AOC. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. And, of course, Platner.
The problem? They’re all Democrats, and the current comedy zeitgeist won’t lay a glove on them. Meanwhile, every Republican in the public arena is mercilessly mocked for both real and imagined flaws.
Night after night after night.
It’s something mystery author novelist Daniel Friedman called out on X.
This is not harmless and this is not meaningless. Democrats have successfully incepted the idea into voters’ heads that Republicans are absurd, clownish and unqualified and the one-sided mockery in entertainment media has helped to spread this lie when the Democrats are actually a collection of hideous weirdos and circus freaks that media has somehow convinced you are normal.
Why would comedians ignore political targets just because they align with their world view? Call it the Palin Effect.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was new to the national scene when Sen. John McCain selected her as his running mate in 2008. “SNL” tasked cast member Tina Fey to portray Palin as a bumpkin, a rube who told the audience she could see Russia from her house.
The impression, to Fey’s credit, was solid gold. And it stuck in the public psyche. Some actually believed the real Palin uttered that “Russia” quote. The moment showed the comedy community that their skits and yuks can impact public opinion.
It’s no accident “SNL” took a hard-Left turn following that election cycle. Even “SNL” cast member Jay Pharoah, who portrayed President Barack Obama on the show, later admitted the show’s brain trust “gave up on the Obama thing,” meaning it pulled its punches on a sitting president.
Why? He wasn’t a Republican.
Both parties have their fair share of political embarrassments. Colorado Republicans just nominated Victor Marx, a man who told an interviewer that it doesn’t matter how many people he’s killed, to be the next governor.
That’s just the tip of the unhinged Marx iceberg.
Marx’s ramblings already snagged the attention of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “The Daily Show,” and “Last Week Tonight.” That’s both appropriate and predictable.
Expect more national ribbing in the weeks to come. And, as Desi Lydic did on her “Daily Show” skewering, they might tie Marx to the GOP brand. Heck, you can bank on that.
Late-night hosts typically ignore Democrats behaving badly. When Jimmy Kimmel finally gave Platner a full-bodied mention, he used the alleged rapist to somehow smear the GOP.
That’s the level of dishonesty in comedy circles today. That’s the same Kimmel who threw softballs at First Son Hunter Biden during his 2021 book tour.
Meanwhile, the cultural Right has done little to balance the scales. Fox News’ “Gutfeld!” may be a late-night ratings winner, but it’s essentially a panel show aimed at a pre-sold conservative crowd.
The show doesn’t do comedy sketches that might go viral and engage those who might otherwise watch “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” or the left-leaning “Tonight Show.”
The right-leaning Babylon Bee has done some solid sketch comedy in recent years, but the site relegates its toughest political gags to its fake news stories, not its YouTube channel.
Social media fills some of the gaps, with amateur late-night hosts cracking wise or creating memes that deconstruct Democrats. The platforms’ algorithms likely keep those funny bits to one side of the aisle only.
The comic gold, meanwhile, will only get richer. Consider the stunning rise of Democratic socialists and their tried-and-failed policies. Not to mention all the antisemitism.
Colorado Democrat Melat Kiros is so far Left that she couldn’t call the Boulder thug who firebombed a Jewish gathering an antisemite.
New York City Mayor Mamdani embraces socialism while enjoying prime viewing seats at the World Cup (and other perks). That might be worth a gag or two. (But we’ll never see it.)
This may read as a conservative complaint. And it is. Partially. There’s a larger, bipartisan issue in play.
Comedians, at their best, hold politicians accountable and keep them on the straight and narrow. When a gaggle of Democrats betrayed the nation’s COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, they should have been mocked so aggressively that they loosened those protocols.
The country would have been freer and equally safe from the virus, as we later learned. Instead, they kept up the charade because Kimmel & co. didn’t lay a glove on them.
Plus, if a Platner-style candidate got raked over the comedy coals in the early days of his senatorial push, he might have dropped out months ago. His campaign may never have gained that early head of steam.
Instead, he dragged his party down with him as more scandals emerged, hurting both the Democrat brand and the country.
Our Court Jester Class has let us down. And the future holds little hope of any improvement.
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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. He’s also the host of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.