Over the past decade or longer, but particularly during the Biden administration, people have mocked Saturday Night Live for refusing to make fun of Democrats. The once-great late-night comedy show has become a parody of itself. Despite the Biden administration providing mountains of fuel for satire, SNL has mostly ignored all of it.
It wasn't always this way. While certainly a left-leaning comedy program for decades, SNL used to have a field day with presidents and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Dan Aykroyd's sendups of Jimmy Carter, Dana Carvey's George H.W. Bush impersonation, Will Ferrell's impression of the younger Bush, and Phil Hartman's HYSTERICAL skits about Bill Clinton are all fondly remembered with a chuckle by those of us old enough to have watched them.
That all changed under the Obama administration though, when somehow, making fun of a liberal president (let alone a black man) became forbidden. And it has only gotten worse since then.
So, you can imagine our surprise last night when we saw that The Daily Show -- a program that has ALWAYS (or at least since Jon Stewart took it over) been one-sided in its attempts at political satire -- had not only aired a segment mocking Vide President Kamala Harris, but a genuinely funny one.
Honestly, we're still laughing about it. We think you will too. Watch the whole skit here:
This Comedy Central Daily Show skit ripping Kamala Harris' word salads is both brutal and hilarious. pic.twitter.com/ODT5hc4Cf3
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) May 22, 2024
HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, that was just too good. 'She's come so far since our first session.'
— Kelley K (@KelleyKga) May 22, 2024
That's the face we made too.
That was amazing…and completely fair without being cruel
— ‘Murica (@Freethinking24) May 23, 2024
This is a good point. Lately, the left's attempts at 'comedy' when it comes to Republicans aren't really funny as much as they are just mean-spirited snark. And it shows. This, on the other hand, was not a mean sketch, just a funny one, taking reality and putting a genuinely humorous twist on it.
Wow the Daily Show daring to do something SNL would never have the guts to do
— Grey Ghost (@MrGreyGhost1) May 23, 2024
We have to give credit where it's due.
Kamala is high as a.... https://t.co/FJz9sdo5nn pic.twitter.com/i14lNENIio
— Daralyn Ross (@DaralynHeywood) May 23, 2024
We don't know if that's true, but it would explain a whole lot.
This is brutal. https://t.co/3wWn3IdJ58
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) May 23, 2024
Really, 'honest' is what it is. But sometimes, honesty can be brutal. Especially in Harris' case.
I’m actually surprised they had the stones to slam her in this fashion. https://t.co/aR53x29XHb
— Brad Slager - Scrubbing Down In a Bloodbath (@MartiniShark) May 23, 2024
We are too. But we still appreciate it.
When you’ve lost The Daily Show… https://t.co/E06phgfPrk
— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) May 23, 2024
That’s not a skit. That has to be real. There’s no other explanation. https://t.co/YfZsX30xuo
— TheRightWingM 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@TheRightWingM) May 23, 2024
When you can't tell the difference, that is solid satire.
Twitter had some additional ideas about other tools Harris might be using for her speeches outside of her 'holistic thought advisor' Dahlia Rose Hibiscus (great name, by the way):
After her most recent speech, I'm pretty sure her speech writer is using this. pic.twitter.com/DZ72ou7qPO
— Schadenfreudelish (@aggierican) May 23, 2024
'Hey Joe, throw some of these on the fridge and I'll put together some words(-ish) and repeat them in an idea voyage and cackle. It'll be great.'
— Rex_Tudor_Coup (@iamgnurr) May 23, 2024
Also, I saw Idea Voyages open for Al Green in 1978. pic.twitter.com/CxflIgXhiN
That was a damn good concert.
Always knew that Ab Libs was one of the sets in a Venn Diagram that intersected as a Kamala Harris speech. https://t.co/DGHhB56jym pic.twitter.com/mX7xigOghZ
— My2Cents (@phpmatt) May 23, 2024
The 'Ad Libs' worksheet on the wall was a chef's kiss moment in the sketch. But watch it some more and you'll see other good ones in there too, like the Forrest Gump movie poster.
The use of papyrus for the graphics is priceless!! https://t.co/GSb0QfQDDZ
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 22, 2024
That's another one too.
Done well, this is done. https://t.co/5f4fTDRGXR
— Sen. John Stevens (@SenJohnStevens) May 22, 2024
LOL. We see what you did there. You have a holistic thought advisor too, don't you?
I like to leave Kamala's words open to interpretation. Like modern art, where you look at it and say, "I wonder what that's all about?"
— Bailey (@realsnoopbailey) May 23, 2024
😂😂🤣 https://t.co/M58uwQcppC
We have to give credit to Desi Lydic, who is the comedian who played the holistic thought advisor. Her performance and delivery -- like sipping her herbal tea at just the right moments -- were impeccable.
Gonna be needing a mind cave now. https://t.co/refADThq9B
— Tara Lynn Thompson (@TaraLynnSays) May 22, 2024
Don't forget to bring your spirit animal in there with you.
Of course, there were some who wanted to bring it back to reality to wonder why The Daily Show was able to create this bit now.
The skit is funny, until you realize if Joe ever has to take a cognitive test this woman is in charge of the country 😬😱 https://t.co/npSx5P1uiW
— Travis Brooks (@travis_brooks) May 23, 2024
Yikes. ALL the yikes.
They were given the okay to destroy Harris
— Jeffrey P Jordan (@jeffpjordan) May 22, 2024
It's not that they did this, it's that almost zero journalists shared it, and that the White House has 100% sent a scolding email to them for doing it. https://t.co/Csy96PPwk0
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 23, 2024
You have to wonder about all of the implications related to the 2024 election, no question about it.
But, in the end, it really is just a comedy sketch. We're happy to see that at least SOME programs have remembered how to do that and do it well, even though they haven't for many years.
This is hysterical, and spot on! https://t.co/29VNfDhQQx
— Leah Robbins (@lnrobbins9) May 23, 2024
It is, indeed.
However, before we close, we DO need to pause for a moment to remember that The Daily Show is about two years too late with its sketch. Twitter was way faster to the punch. About two years ago, Twitter launched the hilarious hashtag #WriteASpeechForKamala after Harris' SECOND speechwriter quit not even two years into her term.
We won't repeat all of the hilarious tweets that hashtag generated, but Twitchy covered it and you can check out some of the best ones here.
Putting the past aside though, better late than never, The Daily Show. Good for you.
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