If we are waiting for Trump to crumble on his own fat ankles, we need to think again. However many petitions aresigned, marches, streetcorner protests, and letters to editors are written, Trump simply does not care. He has noshame or scruples or morality. We are going to find a more effective way of getting rid of him. Woe is us and badthoughts just do not cut it. We are victims of our own negligence in letting a sociopathic narcissist into the WhiteHouse. Rather than cower in worry and fear, the best we can do right now is to laugh and laugh harder into his fatface and all those screwballs that he brought in with him.
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Late night Comedians repeatedly punch Trump in the face for Jimmy Kimmel!Trump doesn't get America or comedians!
Donald Trump and his FCC henchman Brendan Carr were hoping that by threatening ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel, it would cause other late-night comedians to stop mocking Trump. But they were wrong—which again reminds us that Trump has no idea what it means to be an American. Plus, he obviously doesn't know comedians! To be clear, after Kimmel was suspended, Trump went all in seeking to silence any criticism of him on broadcast networks—from news to comedians. That came on Thursday—the day after Kimmel was suspended—when Trump whined to reporters that the networks were giving him "only bad publicity, press." He then warned that if these networks continue to criticize or mock him as they have been doing, he will take them off the air saying, "I would think maybe their license should be taken away." Well, how did the late-night comedians respond to Trump's threats? They collectively punched Trump in the face—over and over again! One of the best was Jon Stewart who made a surprise appearance to host The Daily Show on a Thursday—as opposed to his typical Monday slot--because he wanted to address this issue. The episode kicked off with a new "Daily Show" open that was a salute to Trump with the voiceover declaring, "From Comedy Central, it's the all-new, government-approved Daily Show, with your patriotically-obedient host Jon Stewart!" That is when Stewart began with the line, "We have another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show." Stewart stuck with this theme the entire monologue as he (sarcastically) heaped praise on Trump as "our dear father" whose "kindness is only outdone by your manliness." Obviously, this was all intended to make the point for the audience that the Trump regime demands everyone praise him. (You can watch the entire open below which already has more than 9 million views on YouTube—which is double the ratings of any Fox News show.)  On CBS, Stewart's good friend Stephen Colbert started out his late night show on a serious note, saying "We are all Jimmy Kimmel," adding his removal was a "blatant assault on freedom of speech."  Colbert then took a moment to slam Trump's FCC flunky Brendan Carr who was the one who personally threatened ABC, calling him an "individually wrapped hard-boiled egg that they sell at the airport." And the late-night host later reprised his faux right wing, alter ego from "The Colbert Report" where he sarcastically supported the silencing of Kimmel. For example, regarding the First Amendment, Colbert said, "You can have your rights just as long as you don't use them" with the text on screen reading "Like a gym membership." Over on NBC's The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon had a different approach that made the same vitally important point to big laughs. Fallon shared that a lot of people are worried about censorship, but he was determined to cover Trump's trip to Britain like he normally would. At that point, Fallon began to tell jokes about Trump—but then a voice was dubbed over his punch lines that praised Trump. For example, Fallon stated: "Well, guys, President Trump just wrapped up a three-day trip to the U.K. and he —" The dubbed voice then continued over what Jimmy was actually saying: "Looked incredibly handsome." (See clip below)  Seth Meyers followed Fallon on his own NBC late night show, where he too made the point Trump is a threat to free speech. Meyers told the audience, "I just want to say, before we get started here, that I've always admired and respected Mr. Trump. I've always believed he was — [responding to audience laughter] no, no, no — a visionary, an innovator, a great president, an even better golfer." Meyers then quipped, "And if you've ever seen me say anything negative about him, that's just A.I." Even former legendary late night host David Letterman slammed Trump's efforts to silence Kimmel stating, "You can't go around firing somebody because you're fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian, criminal administration in the Oval Office." He then added this warning, "In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched." But not everyone in late night was defending free speech. Fox News pro-fascist jester Greg Gutfeld openly defended the silencing of Kimmel, saying that Kirk's "death has reset this country, and now people are actually paying attention to their words because we saw what those words did to a fine young man." That is why in Gutfeld's view Kimmel deserved to be silenced for telling a joke the Trump regime didn't approve of. Then Gutfeld dared Kimmel "to hold an outdoor rally and invite everyone. That's what Charlie would do." But he added, "Maybe it's just better to stay in studio with metal detectors and security." Sounds like Gutfeld wanted Kimmel to do a rally with no security to see if someone would kill him. This is what passes as comedy for fascists. Back to the actual comedians, in between the comedy bits, the hosts also shared their support for Kimmel in serious moments. For example, Colbert warned, "With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch. And if ABC thinks that this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naïve." This very visible show of support for Kimmel and defiance of Trump is actually important in the fight against tyranny. Liz Yates --who is an expert on threats to democracy--explained to me that these well-known late night hosts jokes and comments about Trump's attack on free speech are actually "critical" in the fight against autocracy. Yates noted that this united front is showing the nation that there is broad based opposition to what Trump did to Kimmel. Yates added, "We know that the best way to combat authoritarianism is to build a really broad coalition." In addition, these comedians with their large platforms help raise awareness for those who may not follow politics closely but are watching the show for the comedy. Now, they, too, will get the message about how Trump poses a threat to freedom of speech. Trump hoped to intimidate the late-night comedians into stop mocking him. Instead, they mocked him even more. Plus, they reached millions—including those who don't follow politics closely--with the message that Trump is a threat to all of our freedoms. In other words, the late-night hosts used punch lines to repeatedly punch Trump in his fascist face! |
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