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Midler, Colbert, Kimmel and More: The ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ Celebrities

They scoff at Americans suffering under Biden, pandemic lockdowns

If Elon Musk needs proof of Twitter’s liberal bias, he need look no further than Bette Midler’s account.

The progressive star’s history of hate isn’t a secret, but Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council keeps looking the other way. The Divine Ms. M’s latest Twitter stumble, though, reveals something else about both her and her celebrity chums.

Call them the “Let Them Eat Cake” elites.

Midler, trying to protect the Biden administration earlier this week, tried explaining away the nation’s baby formula shortage.

“TRY BREASTFEEEDING! It’s free and available on demand,” she Tweeted, ignoring the countless women who struggle to breastfeed for often heartbreaking reasons. Surely a 70-something woman has met a few moms in her life who shared their motherhood struggles.

The Biden administration claims it’s been working on the problem for some time, apparently with little or no net results. Tell that to the mothers scrambling to find formula for their infants.

That collective suffering doesn’t bother Midler. Why?

It might negatively impact President Joe Biden specifically and Democrats as a whole. So Midler pushed their concerns aside to land some cheap partisan points.

Let them eat cake.

RELATED: The Sad Transformation of Jimmy Kimmel Is Complete

Jimmy Kimmel could have satirically pummeled Team Biden for the baby formula debacle. He’s a late-night comedy host, and his monologues skewer fumbling politicians, at least in theory. Some of his viewers may be experiencing their own issues finding formula for their wee ones.

It’s a Truth to Power moment for any self-described satirist. Or, at least one not beholden to a particular party.

Instead, Kimmel framed the story as Republicans trying to score political points, not mothers desperate to feed their children.

Let them eat cake.

“Republicans have been trying to shift the focus away from taking equal rights from us, by blaming Joe Biden for the nationwide shortage of baby formula. But the President isn’t having it. Not only is he pushing back, he has a plan to solve this problem personally.”

Kimmel unveiled a faux commercial for Biden’s new “Maw-Maw Biden’s Non-Clotting Baby Chow” after chiding the GOP for noticing the problem.

“Hey folks, I know times are tough. With soaring gas prices, and now a shortage of baby formula … But we’ve been through tough times before, and we’ll get through them again. With Maw-Maw Biden’s Non-Clotting Baby Chow!”

“This is the same porridge my own dear mother would fry up in the storm cellar back when I was no bigger than a hickory stump. Every can is chopped, boiled twice, and pickled personally by me, Uncle Joe.”

Can anyone decipher what the gag means, beyond a toothless jab at Biden’s age, perhaps? Are frantic mothers now a punch line? Could Kimmel spare a wisecrack about the government allegedly shipping pallets of formula to illegal immigrant families while American moms suffer?

Suffice to say fellow late night hosts similarly disregarded that factor.

And Colbert championed another “cake” closeup earlier this year following more gas price hike headlines.

“Today, the average gas price in America hit an all-time record high of over $4 per gallon. Okay, that stings, but a clear conscience is worth a buck or two … I’m willing to pay. I’m willing to pay $4 a gallon. Hell, I’ll pay $15 a gallon because I drive a Tesla.”

Mary Antoinette would be proud, assuming you believe the historical myth.

RELATED: Jimmy Kimmel Fangirls Over Fauci

This “let them eat cake” celebrity attitude isn’t new, of course.

The trend raged unchecked during the pandemic, perfectly captured by the array of stars Gal Gadot assembled to sing “Imagine” via the viral video early in the crisis.

The track mocks both faith and materialism, as tone deaf a message as possible given the source. The assembled stars are millionaires many times over. Plus, when friends and loved ones are at risk God-fearing Americans rely on their faith for comfort.

The Left and the Right enjoyed a rare moment of solidarity in mocking the video.

It only got worse from there.

“Will & Grace” alum Debra Messing, like many of her celebrity peers, cheered Dr. Anthony Fauci week after week while he recommended keeping the country locked down mid-pandemic.

We now know the lockdowns did little, if anything, to stop COVID-19 while significantly damaging businesses and lives across the nation.

Soaring rates of drug abuse and suicides, for starters, not to mention the devastating impact lockdowns had on school children.

Still, it didn’t take a medical degree to realize many would suffer from an extended lockdown. For Messing and co., staying locked down indefinitely wasn’t a burden. They’ve already made millions and could ride out the pandemic indefinitely.

Most Americans aren’t so fortunate.

Even some modest government assistance couldn’t pay all the bills nor save family businesses hanging by a thread.

Lockdown protesters during that time vented their rage via public protests. Agree or disagree … could you blame them?

Stephen Colbert used his “Late Show” pulpit to mock lockdown protesters eager to start their businesses up again. Their biggest crime, in Colbert’s estimation? Supporting President Donald Trump. Colbert’s team spotted a Confederate flag in the mix, offering him an easy comic layup.

“Because nothing says ‘never surrender’ like a Confederate flag,” Colbert said with a wink. It’s worth noting that Colbert’s annual salary, according to Business Insider, is $15 million.

Not to be outdone, Kimmel weighed in on the lockdown protesters, too.

The “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host called them “suicidal” and dumb for wanting to get back to work.

“People are getting restless, especially people that aren’t too bright,” he began.

“A big reason why these protests are gaining steam is because our president is encouraging them,” the host added. “Despite everyone who works for him telling people to stay at home, despite the official White House mandate being ‘shelter in place,’ over the weekend, the guy who runs the White House tweeted, ‘LIBERATE MICHIGAN,’ ‘LIBERATE MINNESOTA,’ and ‘LIBERATE VIRGINIA.’ This from a man who refuses to even liberate Melania.”

If you’re ever curious about the definition of “punching down” in comedy, look no further.

Pop singer Pink doesn’t have a late night show to preach from, so she used social media to mock Americans eager to make a living … again. “I feel like I’m living in the movie IDIOCRACY,” she wrote online.

Comedy legend Albert Brooks compared the lockdown protesters to Nazis while simultaneously targeting President Trump.

“The scariest thing about the Trump inspired protests today were people yelling “Fire Fauci!” Trump has to be watching this and feeling like he is invincible. He actually got his crowd to blame science. Even the Germans are going “holy [bleep] I thought we got rid of this.

Not to be outdone, far-left comic Patton Oswalt evoked Anne Frank to belittle those eager to resume something close to a normal life.

‘Anne Frank spent 2 years hiding in an attic and we’ve been home for just over a month with Netflix, food delivery & video games and there are people risking viral death by storming state capital buildings & screaming, ”Open Fuddruckers!”.’

The “View” hosts delivered their “let them eat cake” moment by battering businesswoman Shelley Luther for opening up her salon against their wishes. The Dallas entrepreneur briefly went to jail for not “apologizing” to the judge in the case.

While expressing sympathy to her case on Friday’s show, the liberal hosts did a complete 180 while speaking with her Monday, insisting she should apologize and even blamed her for causing a spike in coronavirus cases in her state.

Whoopi Goldberg couldn’t wait to pile on with one final lecture.

…I would like to hear you put some of that fury and that passion towards the governments that didn’t take care of the people because that’s what they’re supposed to do. So I want you to get out there and fight for all those folks who are not getting what they’re supposed to be getting, and not getting the information that they need, and then I think I’ll feel better about watching you tell people ‘I’m feeding my people.’

One irony in this scenario needs to be said. A core tenet of acting is empathy, the ability to put yourself in others’ shoes to build the most realistic performance possible. Even stars tasked with playing serial killers understand the wisdom behind this technique.

Yet empathy seems far from the minds of these stars. Cake, however, isn’t far from their thoughts.

Post originally published May 12, 2020. Updated May 14, 2022.

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