Did stand-up comedians help reelect Donald Trump?
Not a joke, as outgoing President Joe Biden might say.
Trump has been the butt of countless late-night monologues and “Saturday Night Live” sketches for the better part of a decade, as much of Hollywood tracked the highs and lows of his political career with revulsion and ridicule.
But in the weeks leading up to Election Day, he sat for interviews with podcasting comedians who occupy an increasingly popular space where political discourse is mediated through roast-style insults, right-leaning conspiracy theories and mockery of the left.
“They’re all sort of simultaneously entertainers and influencers and pundits and — I’ve argued, propagandists — who have massive, loyal fanbases,” said Seth Simons, a journalist who writes a newsletter about the comedy industry’s darker side.
The Trump era has coincided with…
