.@TheMattWilstein @jimmyfallon @realDonaldTrump (h/t @exjon) pic.twitter.com/AwxQsPo7E4
— Mike (@ThePantau) January 31, 2017
“Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon recently decided to start making fun of Donald Trump. That should make people like Daily Beast writer Matt Wilstein really happy. But it doesn’t. No, not because Wilstein doesn’t despise Trump, but because Fallon was once nice to Trump. Apparently, that was a major faux pas and it means Fallon’s lost the right to make jokes:
Dear @jimmyfallon, you're not allowed to humanize @realDonaldTrump and then make this joke as him on your show: https://t.co/u4I6TJP1qQ pic.twitter.com/2vA0hFuj0r
— Matt Wilstein (@mattwilstein) January 31, 2017
Wilstein writes:
All of this would be harmless enough if Fallon hadn’t so utterly fallen down on the job when he secured Trump’s last late-night interview before the election this past September. Not only did Fallon comically muss Trump’s hair like he was an adorable toddler, but he failed to press him on any substantive issues even though he knew millions would be watching. When Trump claimed to “know nothing” about Vladimir Putin, Fallon didn’t blink.
…
As the Trump presidency gets underway in earnest and the unconscionable and unconstitutional actions begin to pile up, any comedic take on President Trump is going to need to be a lot tougher than this—see Samantha Bee, Seth Meyers, and most recently The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj.
If Jimmy Fallon wants to get political on his show, turning Trump into the bumbling host of The Price Is Right: White House Edition is not going to cut it.
Dang. There’s just no making some people happy!
I get that he's LITERALLY allowed to make these jokes. Reminder that free speech does not absolve anyone of criticism.
— Matt Wilstein (@mattwilstein) January 31, 2017
Of course it doesn’t absolve anyone of criticism. But that doesn’t mean we can’t criticize your criticism for being thoroughly asinine.
"Not allowed."
— K. Slate (@SlateKensington) January 31, 2017
Yes, he is. That's how comedy works.
— That's LIEUTENANT COMMANDER Crapplefratz! (@Crapplefratz) January 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/AndrewMcClint14/status/826485054696210435
Yeah, he's allowed. Move along.
— Bones McKinney (@bones_mckinney) January 31, 2017
You're telling a comedian they are "not allowed" to make a joke because they "humanized" a human? Come again?
— Theodore Charundel (@TCharundel) January 31, 2017
Remember, people like @TheMattWilstein consider themselves ANTI-fascist. https://t.co/Hr98W4614Y pic.twitter.com/V5GKa6bzXW
— ?It's?Almost ⛄️Christmas? (@jtLOL) January 31, 2017
.@TheMattWilstein @jimmyfallon Dear Mr Wilstein, when you tell people what they're not allowed to do you sound just like @realDonaldTrump
— Tony Allen-Mills (@TAMinUK) January 31, 2017
Thanks for letting everyone know what they are "allowed" to do.
— Mrz.T (@MaeTellu) January 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/sinonevero/status/826485157439877120
https://twitter.com/JammieWF/status/826480298913325058
"You treated him kinda fairly once so FUCK YOU!" https://t.co/zcNvda6Sc6
— NeoN: Automataster (@neontaster) January 31, 2017
.@TheMattWilstein I expect Colbert and SNL are also on your list of Trump humanizers who may not joke about him now, right? pic.twitter.com/MkmdkOOvMK
— NeoN: Automataster (@neontaster) January 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/HEPennypacker84/status/826481507959238662
This is exactly how you… never mind. You won't learn the lesson anyway.
— Taro Tsujimoto (@RCannon74) January 31, 2017
Join the conversation as a VIP Member