Mass protests aren’t dominating the headlines and condemnations and pushback from business leaders are nonexistent (though, fuck yeah Costco with your good-assed cheap hot dogs and commitment to shrugging off this anti-DEI nonsense). In D.C., Democrats are switching from disarray to disavowal of their core principles and mainstream media outlets are playing nice, hunting for access like hogs sniffing truffles as their legal teams line up to settle winnable first amendment lawsuits brought by Trump after ABC News kicked open Pandora’s Box.
Late night comedy is different too now. A lot of Daily Show-esque satire storefronts have shuttered, a predictable retreat from the hybrid newsy comedy boom state of the early Trump years. Some comics (like Trevor Noah) have also left the space, but the shows and talents that are left all still have ample experience finding the funny within the WTF chaos of it all. There’s value in that – more for the distractions than the infotainment – but there’s also a spotlight on them.
Like he’s done since his first term, Trump is calling out late-night hosts on social media. Most recently, he said Seth Meyers’ corporate overlords at Comcast should “pay a BIG price” for their employee’s pointed jokes on NBC’s Late Night, which Trump sees as some kind of contribution to Democrats.
Meyers did a nice job of threading the needle in response, but there’s no doubt this is going to keep coming. So what? Everything about this new Trump regime, so far, seems more punitive and coordinated, bolstered by the Supreme Court’s judicial “Go get em, slugger” with their Presidential immunity ruling in July and a more aggressive “GO” sign from Trump’s congressional minions. So maybe those posts aren’t just words this time. Maybe they’re indirect unofficial directives to the new FCC head. Maybe we’re about to find out how far media companies are willing to go to support their late night franchises and, you know, the concept of free speech.
With political satire maybe facing an existential threat at the same time as other traditional critics stand down or bend the knee to tickle the pucker, these shows offer a much-needed dose of defiance. Also, weirdly, comedy. Because if you ain’t laughing, you’re crying/howling into the night/banging your head against a wall/blackout drinking.
The exhaust valve venting I got from seeing Klepper run up the score on MAGA revelers abandoned in the cold by Trump wasn’t purely about catharsis. There’s a discipline and art to what Klepper is doing to get a laugh while getting uncomfortably close to the jagged absurdism and tragicomedy of it all. He’s elevating his shtick to something beyond some “some schmuck puts a microphone in people’s faces until something stupid falls out.”
It helps that Klepper is grounded in a general curiosity that helps him seem engaged and open (because he really is, and I say this as someone who has explored the subject while interviewing him numerous times over the last 9 years).
Yes, he’s there to mock. But if Klepper led more with that and didn’t at least try to mask his befuddlement at the brainwashed answers and the intellectual contortionism people put themselves through, he’d lose his ability to coax that good shit from them. Because it’s not like he’s new to the scene of Trump rallies and other MAGA jamborees. Something has to keep bringing these people back to the metaphorical stick and box trap that Klepper puts out. His gameness to engage and air of amiability are part of what keeps the people he talks with more unguarded.
So, yeah, I hope Klepper doesn’t wind up penniless, in jail (again), or at a comedian re-education camp designed to mold people into a more pleasing, Greg Gutfeldian form. Because it’s important in this moment of performative fealty, orgiastic oligarchism, and national concussion to have people in opposition to power who, most importantly, are really fucking good at what they do.
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The Truth Hurts
