It was only a matter of time. But, to his credit, Donald Trump waited until his second week in office before utilizing the power of the presidential pen to ban political satire.
Yes, Trump’s 135th (to date) executive order makes it illegal to poke fun at political figures, in general, and the President of the United States, in particular.
“Politics is no joking matter,” said the most thin-skinned man to occupy the Oval Office. “From here on out, we are going to treat our politics with dignity and respect.”
The new executive order is not sitting well with the nation’s top comedians and political satirists, as one would expect.
“WTF,” said Jon Stewart, former host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” “I mean WTF?”
Stephen Colbert, host of CBS’s “The Late Show,” was simply in shock.
“What am I going to do now for material?” asked Colbert. “With Trump, the jokes practically wrote themselves!”
Lorne Michaels, executive producer of SNL (Saturday Night Live), perhaps took the news the hardest, “We finally started seeing our numbers improve and now this? We were back on top.”
The Emmy Award-winning Michaels was actually telling the truth and not resorting to “alternative facts.” Thanks to Trump’s improbable presidential run, and election, SNL got back some of it’s lost mojo. It took 2016’s political chaos and spun it into TV gold. The show set record ratings numbers and won critical praise for its many Trump skits.
Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” had a more measured response.
“Yes, we had some fun at Donald Trump’s expense. I actually thought he was a fan of the show and was cool with all the good-hearted ribbing. But, as they say, all good things come to an end. We’ll survive.”
As we have seen with some of Trump’s executive orders, this one might also be subject to rescission or modification.
Trump has been quoted as saying “all publicity is good publicity; all press is good press.”
Our new president just might miss being in the comedy spotlight, even if he is being demeaned. At least everyone is talking about you, right?
Indeed, some have said Trump’s greatest fear is to be ignored.
Caution … this might be satire
Photo | nydailynews.com
