Gutfeld on the politics of late night comedy
Biden gets a pass from late-night hosts while Trump takes brunt of the jokes
One New York Times columnist lamented how left-leaning comedians were struggling to attract audiences while conservative commentators were thriving, in a Tuesday opinion piece.
Author and professor Tressie McMillan Cottom began by listing a string of late-night shows where the hosts announced they were leaving or the shows were canceled altogether. Countering those examples with the success of conservative podcast hosts, she claimed liberals relied on "satire" while conservatives relied on "outrage."
"When you look across media platforms, it is easier to see how conservative psychological preference for outrage bodes better for their growth in satellite radio, lifestyle media and, of course, social media," she wrote. The columnist added, "Bluntly, scholars who study political communication and humor often find that liberals are ironic smart alecks and conservatives are outraged moralists."
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"Daily Show" host Trevor Noah announced in September that he's leaving the long-running Comedy Central program after seven years. (Comedy Central)
The author seemed to argue that conservatives didn't like late-night comedy because they couldn't handle criticism of their own beliefs. "If you have a high need for clear-cut moral rules, then satire, which asks us to skewer our own beliefs, is going to make you pretty anxious. Ouchie stuff if ‘us versus them’ makes you feel safest," she wrote.
She claimed the popularity of "outrage" commentary made it "harder to sell liberal politics" on late-night television.
Samantha Bee's show "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" was canceled in July. (Reuters)
The Times columnist also feared that late-night hosts were losing their audiences because liberals had lost faith in the direction the country was heading.
She quoted Goldthwaite Young, a communication professor at the University of Delaware and author of a book about outrage, who deemed it "hard to be hopeful, even ironically, when everything seems to be going so bad." McMillan Cottom agreed that Democrats were "terrified" of the GOP taking control this November.
"The Dobbs decision has radicalized and terrified millions of voters. Many Americans think the Supreme Court is partisan, if not outright corrupt. Biden’s policy achievements do not seem to be capturing voters’ imagination. And he has several significant policy wins. Large swaths of the Republican Party have embraced white identitarian violence. We are too scared to laugh," she said.
Fox's Greg Gutfeld, CBS' Stephen Colbert, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, and NBC's Jimmy Fallon. (Fox/Getty Images)
The article ended with the author warning how "dangerous" this election cycle had become. "All of this is only funny in a laugh-to-keep-from-crying kind of way."
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While Donald Trump was in office, late night hosts cemented their reputations as "Democratic activists" instead of entertainers, Fox News contributor Joe Concha argued.
A study by George Mason University found 97% of the political jokes told by "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert and "The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon leading into to the 2020 election were about Trump.
However, since he left office, late-night leader Colbert has seen his audience shrink from an average of 3 million viewers to 2.1 million in 2022.
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld has since taken over the top spot in the late night lineup.
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