Political jokes: too soon?
The answer from many quarters at midweek was a resounding yes, days after an assassination attempt against Republican former president Donald Trump rattled the nation over political violence that has been brewing in the United States for decades.
Several late-night shows that thrive on political comedy changed plans immediately, with Comedy Central's 鈥淭he Daily Show鈥� canceling its Monday show and its plan to broadcast from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week. Its host, Jon Stewart, and his counterparts delivered somber monologues.
By Tuesday, the comedy rock duo Tenacious D, made up of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, had called off after Gass stated his birthday wish onstage: 鈥淒on鈥檛 miss next time.鈥� Gass apologized.
Democratic President Joe Biden, no stranger to mocking Trump, phoned his wounded rival, paused his political ads and messaging and called on the nation to 鈥渃ool" the rhetoric.
So if comedy is tragedy plus time, when is joking okay again? And who gives the thumbs-up, given that the shooter who took aim at Trump ?
How to determine when to return to laughs?
There's nothing funny about the assassination attempt Saturday or any of the since its earliest days. as he spoke to rallygoers in Pennsylvania. A Trump supporter and the gunman were killed and two bystanders were injured. The attack raised . It was the latest episode of political violence in America, where attacks in politics date to at least 1798 when two congressmen of opposing parties brawled in the U.S. House.
History books are littered with other examples, but the list just this century is jarring. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head in 2011. Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, now House majority leader, was shot and critically wounded in 2017. A mob of Trump supporters to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's election. Paul Pelosi was bludgeoned in his house in 2022 by a man hunting for his wife, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Add that to unyielding concerns about after his , 鈥� and American politics in 2024 seem anything but amusing.
But political humor is as old as politics and government.
It takes some of the edge off the democratic decisions at hand and is a potent weapon for politicians looking to ease concerns about themselves or raise some about their rivals. And in recent years, Trump has been the subject of more jokes than others. found that 97% of jokes by late-night hosts revolved around Trump.
鈥淚t's never too soon, unless it's not funny,鈥� Alonzo Bodden, a standup comedian for 31 years, asserted during a phone interview on Wednesday. Not a Trump fan, he said comedians 鈥渨ill always make it funny no matter what happens. That's what we do. It's how we communicate."
鈥淚n this case, Donald Trump is such a character and the fact that he wasn鈥檛 killed, the jokes started immediately,鈥� Bodden said. 鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 think he minds. He鈥檚 one of those people that as long as you鈥檙e talking about him, it鈥檚 a win.鈥�
Humor humanizes outsized figures
Perhaps most effectively, political humor can make highfalutin' leaders appear more human, or at least self-aware.
See ,鈥� Trump's mysterious middle-of-the-night tweet in 2017 that went viral and caused Jimmy Kimmel to lament that he'll never write anything funnier. Or 鈥� ,鈥� a poem by the late Washington Post cartoonist Richard Thompson composed entirely of President George W. Bush's garbled statements and published for his inauguration in 2001.
鈥淚t is a very complicated economic point I was making there," Bush explained with a wink to the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner a few months later. 鈥淏elieve me, what this country needs is taller pie.鈥�
Biden has tried using humor to drag the age issue out front before the debate made clear that the question is more about his cognitive ability. 鈥淚 know I'm 198 years old, 鈥� Biden has said, to raucous laughter and applause.
Humor is so valuable a campaign tool that candidates flock to the guest seats of late-night shows, which have grown in political influence. But after the assassination, a pause settled over everything, as evidenced in Stewart's serious monologue Monday.
鈥淣one of us knows what鈥檚 going to happen next other than there will be another tragedy in this country, self-inflicted by us to us, and then we鈥檒l have this feeling again,鈥� Stewart said.
鈥淭he Late Show's Stephen Colbert described his horror at the attack, relief that Trump had survived and 鈥漡rief for my beautiful country."
鈥淭hough I could just as easily start the show moaning on the floor," he said, "because how many times do we need to learn the lesson that violence has no role in our politics?"
Social media was showing less restraint, as it does. 鈥淚 think it's ironic that Trump almost died from a gun today because he was too far right-leaning,鈥� comedian Drew Lynch said on YouTube. 鈥淎lright. That's all I got. I think my neighbors might be in earshot.鈥�
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Kellman reported from London. AP Media Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.
Laurie Kellman, The Associated Press
