It’s no secret “Saturday Night Live” goes soft on President Joe Biden.
Week after week the hard-left show hammers Sen. Ted Cruz, former President Donald Trump and others while oh, so gently bringing Biden up now and then. You’d think a weekly show known for its presidential humor might consider the current president prime fodder.
And you’d be wrong.
This sketch, which hinted at President Biden’s mental capacity, is an exception.
By comparison, the show pulls all the punches when it comes to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Here’s a perfect example from the most recent episode’s Weekend Update segment.
“According to a new report, a former staff member for Vice President says that she often fails to read briefing material and is unprepared for meetings,” Che joked. “It feels really amazing to finally see someone in the White House who is just like me.”
Harris’s press team couldn’t have scripted a softer gag, thrown as her poll numbers are cartoonishly low. At least the show name checked her. Most late night comics can barely do that, and when it happens they’re not seeking satirical blood.
And she’s far from alone.
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The following politicians and public figures are ripe for ridicule. Some have behaved badly. Others repeatedly share bizarre opinions on social media and elsewhere. Political satirists should be salivating at the thought of mocking them, and speaking “truth to power” in the process.
But Kimmel, Colbert, Meyers, McKinnon, Bee and the rest of the mainstream comedy crowd stand down, time and again. Let’s meet these comedy “untouchables” and learn why comedians are missing plenty of material.
Dr. Anthony Fauci
The infectious disease specialist flew mostly under the radar until COVID-19 spread across the globe last year. President Trump appointed Dr. Fauci to be the public face of the nation’s battle against the pandemic.
Since that time, Dr. Fauci’s credibility has tumbled to catastrophic lows. He’s roundly mocked on social media while articles highlight his glaring inconsistencies and politically-charged decrees. And, as much as he loves media appearances, he won’t appear on outlets ready to ask him tough but fair questions.
We invited him. Dr. Fauci said he did not have time to do @clayandbuck. That’s despite having time for daily interviews on CNN, MSNBC and the like. So just add it to his long list of lies. https://t.co/EUh6DxSPQw
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) December 12, 2021
He’s dictating how millions of Americans are leading their lives, and he’s doing a lousy job of it.
And yet comedians refuse to mock him. When Kate McKinnon plays him on “Saturday Night Live” it’s always to praise him or use his persona to mock others, like President Trump.
The only ones poking fun at his flaws face Big Tech punishment for doing so. Just ask Tyler Fischer, who found his work throttled for his spot-on Dr. Fauci impression.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
The Democrat’s outsized ego alone could spark dozens of “SNL” skits. Add her social media musings, grand hypocrisies and flawed logic, and she’s a satirist’s dream. And yet she’s gone through the early part of her political life mostly unscathed, comedically speaking.
When “SNL” or “The Simpsons” evoke her it’s full of praise, not political swipes.
Jen Psaki
“Saturday Night Live” lured Melissa McCarthy to the show in 2017 to mock Trump spokesperson Sean Spicer. He certainly left himself open to ridicule at times, but most presidential spokespeople offer ripe material for comedians and pundits alike.
Enter Psaki, an arrogant figure who alternately dodges tough questions or hopes some snark will make them go away. Women’s magazines fawn over her. “SNL” actually praised her in the middle of the aforementioned Biden sketch.
Late night comics gloss over her en route to yet another Jan. 6 barb.
Rep. Ilhan Omar
She’s part of the so-called Squad, and conservatives know her well from various anti-semitic comments she’s made over the years. She also downplayed the 9/11 attacks (“some people did something“) and blamed “dysfunctional police” on Minneapolis’ raging crime rates … not the criminals.
And then there’s reports suggesting she married her brother, the kind of story that would ricochet from “The Late Show” to “SNL” if something similar applied to a Republican leader.
That’s just a partial list of her open political wounds. And yet you won’t see any late night shows going near the representative … unless it’s to conduct a softball interview.
Joy-Ann Reid
Mainstream comics have made Fox News’ Tucker Carlson their new Trump. They’re obsessed with him, spinning anything he says into a variation of, “he’s crazy, and he must be stopped.”
And then there’s MSNBC’s Reid. She’s always been a dubious figure, truth-wise, but lately she’s gone so far even the far-Left Sarah Silverman called her out.
Reid also “questioned” 9/11, and laughably alleged that hackers were responsible for her anti-Semitic and homophobic messages. More recently, she used racist rhetoric to slam Kyle Rittenhouse, deemed innocent by a jury of his peers for killing two people in self-defense.
Here’s the New York Post’s Miranda Devine eviscerating Reid for her hateful attack on a rising Republican star.
When Winsome Sears became the first black woman to win the office of lieutenant governor of Virginia, rather than acknowledge the achievement, Reid griped that Republicans “demand credit” for voting for black candidates. Then she nodded along vigorously as her guest smeared Sears as a “black mouth … who justifies and legitimates the white supremacist practices.”
So where’s the “SNL” sketches about her? Why isn’t Seth Meyers giving her a healthy fact check now and then?
Pure crickets.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi
The veteran legislator has a long history of mockable moments, something that could be said for virtually any politician who spent decades inside the Beltway.
Let’s stay with the recent past, for argument’s sake. She became the face of the Elites when she showed off her stocked fridge in the middle of a pandemic.
She snagged a “blow out” appointment as millions of fellow Californians were locked out of doing the same.
She’s also prone to occasional word salad moments, which speaks to her advanced years and inability to retire gracefully.
All of the above should be catnip to political humorists. So where are the jokes?
Leonardo DiCaprio
He’s not a politician, nor is he toying for a political run a la Dwayne Johnson or Matthew McConaughey. Still, DiCaprio is one of Hollywood’s most politically active stars regarding Climate Change. He might be the most vocal celebrity on the subject, producing documentaries on the subject and now starring in a satire aimed directly at Climate Change “deniers.”
Only there’s one problem.
The Oscar winner is simultaneously one of Hollywood’s biggest eco-hypocrites. And yet that rich comic vein is never, ever tapped by mainstream comedians.
What do all of the aforementioned people have in common? Why do satirists steer clear of them? They either actively support progressive causes, cheer on government expansion or simply smear the GOP in aggressive fashion.
It’s why all of the above will likely remain “untouchable.”
Have thought the same for a long time now. The cries of “the end of democracy!” (sic) that have become as ubiquitous as “white supremacist” was before that and “racist” before that—- come on…and that leads to….the PC-SJW dunder-heads themselves, who think that “woke” is the state-of-being form of “wake” (I woke up, so now I am awake — not woke — but then a dead giveaway of a mediocre IQ is that past tense problem) AND who have trouble spelling the EVEN the word “the”— and who buy every story that comes along, no matter how crazy….
Watch, as they buy for a SECOND time…that Donald Trump is a foreign agent…Yes, it’s time for Round Two of Russia-Russia-Russia! We don’t know yet who they’ll claim he was selling “nuclear secrets” to (available on sheets of paper, not hard drives, no less) to, but the democrat-left will eat it up, just like they did “horse pills” and “drinking bleach.” Watching my former party (yeah, that was decades ago) cozy up to our total enemies, the intel agencies and the corporations, is stunning!
And even when every “conspiracy theory” becomes a Gilda-Radner-style “never mind” a year later…they still BELIEVE with all their little hearts…So yeah, the “leaders” are one thing, but the democrat voters who have never met a crazy talking point they didn’t buy into instantly and repeat endlessly would provide material for whole seasons all by themselves.
Do they have anyone to do Alec Baldwin? Too soon?