Many joked, and rightly so, that journalists took an eight-year nap during the Obama administration.
The same reporters who pressed President Donald Trump on his every syllable stood down as his predecessor attacked the free press, OK’d drone strikes and put migrant children in cages.
The same effect is happening now with political satire.
We’ve already seen four straight weeks of “Saturday Night Live” avoiding both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The far-left sketch show still does political material, of course, but it favors conservative targets like Sen. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and others.
Podcaster Adam Carolla noted the issue, too, saying it’s a byproduct of Cancel Culture.
“Honestly, I get what there is to hate about Donald Trump,” Carolla said on America’s Newsroom. “What is there to love about Joe Biden? That’s the bigger question if you’re SNL. OK, you hated Trump, fine. Why do you love Joe Biden? There’s nothing to love about Joe Biden, unless you’re scared of being cancelled, and the fact that this cancel culture has drifted over to comedy is absolutely insane.”
It’s akin to how SNL treated President Obama. Even the cast member tasked with portraying him said the show “gave up on the Obama thing.”
Now, it’s The Onion’s turn.
The venerable humor site once took great joy in mocking then-Vice President Biden, although it did so in a way that played up Biden’s allegedly cool side, a toothless comic narrative. The Onion even spat out an e-book capturing the “best” Biden bits.
Now?
It’s been more than a month since Biden took the oath of office, and the humor site can’t find anything funny about his presidency. The same goes for Vice President Harris.
None of this is shocking.
Modern humorists lean reliably left of center and they see their jokes as part of the Left’s propaganda machine. Telling a Biden joke that rings true could hurt his appeal and political power, they assume. So they avoid that material as much as possible. It’s why humorists ditched Biden jokes during the 2020 presidential campaign.
Consider the following headlines now visible on The Onion’s political page, dating back to Jan. 20.
‘Get Me On The First Flight Outta Here’ Says John Cornyn In Hoodie, Sunglasses Banging On Bahamas Airport Desk
Cuomo Tells Journalists There’s A Few More Deaths That Won’t Be Reported If They Keep Asking Questions
Ted Cruz Celebrates Fulfilling Campaign Promise After Successfully Deporting 2 Hispanic Children
Hog With Paintbrush Commissioned For Trump Presidential Portrait
Ted Cruz Deeply Disturbed By Part Of Capitol Riot Video Where Chuck Schumer Not Beaten To Death
Trump Worried Biden Will Take Credit For 500,000 Covid Deaths He Made Possible
Horrified Biden Family Discovers Rotting, Months-Old Corpse Of Jeff Sessions In White House Executive Residence
‘Truly An Honor To Receive This Gift From The Black Community,’ Says Trump Graciously Accepting NAACP Lawsuit
Lindsey Graham Hisses Directions At Attorneys Messing Up Speech They Spent Hours Rehearsing
‘I Want To Go See Those Mountains Where It Looks Like Avatar,’ Says Biden In Speech Outlining Foreign Policy Agenda
The Biden/Avatar story is the only one coming close to painting the new president in an unflattering light. The other stories speak for themselves.
President Trump is now Citizen Trump, yet he’s attacked multiple times on the site. How long will readers have to wait before The Onion embraces the fact there’s a new president in the Oval Office?
[Cross-posted from Hollywood in Toto.]
