Satire Briefing Paper VI

Jenna DePellegrini and Christina McAlister

Jimmy Fallon summed up this week when he commented, “In any other time in history this would be the craziest story of all time, but in the year 2020 it’s Friday.” The main topic of conversation for our satirists, like the rest of the nation, was the announcement that President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and several other high ranking members of the Trump campaign, the West Wing, and the GOP tested positive for COVID-19. This was followed by questionable and conflicting reports from the President’s medical team and the White House on the status of his health throughout this weekend. In summation: “The Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful nation on Earth has fallen ill with a virus that has hobbled the entire world.”

Stephen Colbert answered the question that was on everyone’s mind when he said, “I’m wondering why someone didn’t protect our President from this pandemic. And it is upsetting, but not surprising that the one who put our President in danger was Donald J. Trump.” More criticism of the President’s actions continued over the weekend when he announced that he would be returning to the White House after only a couple days in Walter Reed Medical Center. “There is he,” Colbert narrated over a news clip of Trump back in the West Wing, on a balcony, saluting the marines who piloted the helicopter transporting him. “Immediately taking off his mask, and saluting the marines and camera crew filming this campaign ad.” These actions have once again brought up criticism from Democrats and liberal satirists about the President’s handling of the pandemic, and his general attitude towards COVID. As analyzed by Seth Meyers, “The president reassured us all from his hospital suite that this has been a very educational experience for him. Well, why didn’t you learn more about COVID before you and 7 million Americans got infected? So basically, when you [Trump] said you learned about COVID, did you mean you learned how to spread it?” Colbert summarizes the criticisms and general thoughts of the news media and journalists by saying, “So the people who lost their lives, they either did not have enough moxie, or they didn’t live in a big White House that has 20 full-time medical staff, and get choppered to a suite at Walter Reed where they received a combination of cutting-edge treatments that literally no one else on this planet has received.”

The President’s diagnosis of COVID-19 also brought into question the next Presidential debate that is scheduled for October 15th, a week from this Thursday. It is a general opinion among our satirists that Trump’s early discharge from Walter Reed, along with his claims that COVID is not that bad and should not “dominate your life,” is a way for him to project a strong image for his support base in the days leading up to the debate while not giving Joe Biden the opportunity to campaign in vital battleground states unopposed. Jimmy Kimmel discusses this “other storyline,” saying, “People [are] wondering if he really does have the virus. Some people don’t believe he has it, some people think it's a ploy to win him the election, and others think someone intentionally gave it to him.” Colbert reports that “Trump will be back to full frontal campaigning very, very soon.” And it’s unlikely that this debate will be postponed unless the President’s health takes a drastic turn for the worse, as it was found in recent polls that after the first Presidential debate, more Americans were turned off from Trump’s behavior and believe that Biden’s temperament is more suited towards the Presidency. Jimmy Fallon said it best: “The debate could be postponed, not because of the coronavirus, but because no one wants to moderate it.”

John Oliver also brought up some concerns that are circulating around the upcoming election and the concerns about mail-in voting. Oliver points out that Trump is and has been encouraging “poll watchers” and giving his supporters the green light to heckle voters at the polls, using voter fraud as a justification for doing so. In fact, Oliver shows how Republicans have been trying to destabilize elections for years, saying, “There is nothing new in Republicans attempting to depress [voter] turnouts. They’ve done it for years, and are continuing to do so now, bigger and better than ever.” This was seen during the midterm elections in where Black and Latino voters faced a way longer waiting time to vote at polls than white people because of how little polls there are in their communities; Oliver provided an example of this through a video clip of an African American male who waited in line to vote for over seven and a half hours in Atlanta, GA. Bill Maher also brought up this concern in his late night talk show, where he claimed that Republicans have and are “prohibiting/making harder restrictions on convicts to vote (who would more likely lean Democrat) which then gives Republicans more power in offices.” Convicts, shown in countless studies, research analyses, and prison records, are more likely to be of a minority race than caucasion, and would be more likely to vote Democrat than Republican.

The breaking news of this week, once again, gave satirists a lot of material to work with and the reality of America’s situation is so horrific that it is comical at this point. As Jim Carrey said in Saturday Night Live, “Now just imagine if karma and science could somehow team up to send us all a message about how dangerous this virus can be. I’m not saying I want it to happen, but just imagine if it did.” Saturday Night Live never ceases to amuse the American public with their hilarious commentary on this unique political moment. While most Americans could not bring themselves to watch the entirety of the real first debate, millions were tuned into and saw through SNL’s parody of the presidential debate. This cold open indeed captured the insanity of American politics in 2020. SNL’s Alec Baldwin is already known for exaggerating and honing in on Trump’s every mannerism, but unexpectedly, comedian Jim Carrey gave a truly unforgettable impersonation at the expense of former Vice President Joe Biden. Carrey and the writers of SNL revealed just how often Biden avoided questions and even joked about Biden’s anger management problems which further emphasized that not only did Trump contribute to the chaos of this debate, but so did Biden.

On the conservative side of comedy this week, The Babylon Bee reported that “Liberals Desperately Pray For Trump’s Healing After Realizing Mike Pence Next In Line For Presidency.” Despite many politicians, on both sides of the aisle, sending both the President and First Lady their condolences and well wishes, many everyday citizens took it upon themselves to make this another part of their arguments with others on social media. Satirists, such as those a part of The Babylon Bee, took note of this and decided to run with it. This Christian satire news source jokingly reported that “Liberals, who had been praying for the death of Trump, suddenly reversed course and began desperately begging the Lord to heal Trump after they realized Mike Pence is next in line for the presidency” which blatantly points out how conservative and liberal voters are further divided after witnessing Trump testing positive.

With the leader of our country falling weak to a virus in the midst of a pandemic, it indeed gave political comedians the perfect opportunity to point out not only the irony, but the hypocrisy of this situation. As our country continues to politicize COVID-19, these satirists continue to hold up a mirror to us and reveal the harsh realities of our current political moment. This being said, political comedians have also made the valid point that all Biden needs to do is change his campaign slogan to “Joe Biden: Make American Not Actively On Fire Again” which just further emphasizes how low Americans’ expectations of our government are.