After going 3 for 3 in the primaries and caucuses, it's clear to any sane observer that Bernie Sanders is the front runner for the Democratic nomination. Course, there's not a lot of sanity going around these days, especially around the offices of MSNBC and CNN. With each day, the mainstream media has filled their time slots with pundits bitterly bemoaning his momentum. They, along with the other Ridiculous 6 candidates, are going through a Rolodex of smears in a pitiful attempt to stifle him. But much like drinking hot sauce after eating a wad of wasabi, the Bern is only getting stronger. So much of social media has cataloged the madness from surrogates, so-called experts, and media influencers that it feels like trying to make any fresh commentary on the news is akin to panning for gold in a rain puddle. It's even more of a challenge coming up with a killer zinger about the current political climate. Most of the material is already taken for this cycle, but that won't stop late night and political comedy shows from giving their own take on what happened in Nevada and beyond.
In the midst of all the liberal lunacy, it's easy to forget that part of what has shaped this lunacy is the comedic institutions aligned with its ideology. Of course everyone knows that the entertainment industry is largely liberal and that conservatives aren't funny (or at least not funny in the ways they think). However, one of the most prominent nexus points of the relationship between liberalism and the entertainment industry has been with the success of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. Both shows capitalized on picking out the the absurdities of current events, prompting those in the news networks they mocked to imitate their witticisms or brash no-bullshit attitudes rather than getting their heads out of their asses. Pundits, journalists and politicians relished the thought of getting a spot on The Daily Show or vied for the Colbert Bump to get more attention and in turn the shows expanded their influence, eventually building up to a rally and a SuperPAC. Though they were critical and possessed actual satire, these shows did less to reject the status quo so much as to frame it as a daily grievance one could laugh off. As soon as both of them left their shows right when the comedic golden goose was ready to enter the White House, there was an explosion of political comedy, ranging from Daily Show alumni getting their own slots, to the classic late night programs adopting the Stewart model to Colbert dropping his character as Colbert to be the real Colbert, to Saturday Night Live cranking up the political dial to 11.
And as Trump would say, "it's been a mess, folks!"
So much of it has become an agonizing echo chamber where the same three jokes get repeated about The Donald, feeding into his bases' aggrievement with the elites and adding to the feedback loop of the idiocy of the news media narrative. They did their best to sell Hillary to America at large and then bought into the notion that half of it was irredeemable once he won. Russiagate was able to have much of its staying power in part thanks to the likes of Colbert insinuating Trump was Putin's cock-holster and SNL thinking Robert "DeNiro" Mueller would get his ass and get it good. Some of the programs (like Last Week Tonight, Patriot Act and Full Frontal) have served better as infotainment on a myriad of issues, only to concinnate it with the surfeit of hackneyed anti-Trump rhetoric rather than direct more focus on the structural flaws. Though Trump serves as an effective boogeyman to motivate people to go against him and those of his ilk (as the 2018 midterms showed), he is a greater distraction for these shows to make any truly incisive commentary.
Despite contributing to the repetitive nature of the discourse, the level of impact that such shows have nowadays could be be somewhat of an imponderabilia. For millennials who most likely lean to the Democrats, they really aren't taking their political cues from the likes of Trevor Noah or Seth Meyers. That's where the Chapos and the TrueAnonPods of the online world come in. One wouldn't find many people out there that would openly admit to being political active thanks to John Oliver or Samantha Bee, let alone use them as their compass for hot-button issues. Their main purpose is entertainment after all. They may try to exert their influence into tangible action but at best it registers as a blip in the grander conversation or it functions as a way to see how far they can push a joke through the bounds of the legal system. John Oliver is very much a fan of the latter. It's understandable that even at their most actively activist, political comedy in the mainstream still holds back in fear of biting too hard at the hand that feeds them, and so in turn much of what they accomplish is largely unnoticed. With that said, given that they still have a large audience behind them and are still able to contribute to a neoliberal mentality, it doesn't seem right to just consider them as innocuous bystanders.
One such indication of this is how Bernie Sanders fits into their formula. Back in 2016 when he stepped onto the world stage, Sanders was justifiably viewed on late night and political comedy shows as an aberration. It seemed a little silly to see this disheveled senior citizen stroll onto a podium in a middle of a park to declare himself as a potential candidate to run the most powerful nation on earth. He's unpolished, he's got a gruff New York accent and he loves talking about percentages - mix and match these points and the monologue just writes itself. Much like Trump, there was a simple formula to approaching him and given he was going up Hillary Clinton, the most recognized politician in the nation, they figured they didn't need to do any further thinking about him.
Once he started to gain support, especially among the younger generations, there was more of an incentive to give him notice. Late night was particularly fond of letting Bernie Sanders on to speak his piece about the many afflictions in American society while playing along to the gimmicky aspects. Colbert let him spin the Wheel of News, Meyers let himself get Bernt, and Jimmy Fallon played the Whisper Challenge with him. It all seemed like it was in good fun. But in the midst of his light-hearted appearances, there was the larger political narrative of the liberals: Hillary was destined for the nomination, Bernie's a constant thorn on her side and the bros are just insufferable little shits. So for as much as he was ratings gold, he also had to be taken down a peg. The Daily Show With Trevor Noah ran a segment detailing how Sanders was a real politician by catching him in a lie as if to deflate any notion that he could be a true progressive. SNL ran a skit with Larry David acting as the senator, that while being one of the few times the show has been genuinely funny, presented him as a Curb Your Enthusiasm caricature whose curmudgeony nature was the failing of his candidacy. Though none of them really possess quite as much as the direct vitriol and condescension that Samantha Bee had with him, furious that this old white man was talking down to Hillary and went hard on presenting his supporters as the most toxic dudebros imaginable. They didn't necessarily kill his candidacy but they weren't above kicking him when he was down, all the while sweeping under the carpet the ratfucking done by Clinton after the emails leaked in favor of berating the immaturity of the Bernie or Bust movement.
After the hell year ended with the greatest political upset the United States has ever faced, much of the comedy world went to mining jokes from the Cheeto-In-Chief. Hillary left to the woods and then went around promoting a book while Bernie stayed in the fight in Congress. Mentions of him on these shows wouldn't be frequent but they tended to side more with him now that he was going against Trump rather than Hillary. With a few more appearances on late night, he has garnered more excitement among audiences and political comedy shows have found themselves referring to him more often, aligning themselves in some way to The Squad (which favors Sanders' progressive approach over the typical Democratic establishment) or touching on issues that he often discusses about such as climate change or the broken healthcare system. Perhaps they themselves weren't feeling the Bern, but they did help to let it simmer.
So how will the dynamic between Bernie and these shows fare now that he's the front-runner? Their commentary on the 2020 Democratic primary election has mirrored in part the media's ignorance of Bernie's popularity with some refusing to pay too much mind to him or the goings-on in the primaries and caucuses in favor of retreading through the absurdity and corruption of the Trump administration. There is also an awareness present among them by a plethora of posters on social media. While the news wanted to pretend that Biden still had a chance to win Iowa hook line and sinker, all of them took a chance to roast him on his creep factor, his constant invoking of Obama and his rapid decline into senility. Warren was already pegged to be a Clinton re-run so much so that Kate McKinnon went on to play her. Most importantly of all, they know that just the mere mention of Sanders can get the crowd in an uproar. With every appearance on any of the shows, their chanting goes on longer and stronger. Add on to it his rugged sincerity creating an idiosyncratic cool factor that makes him incredibly relatable, and one can see why other candidates seem to go after him with such envy in their eyes. There's always a chance they could try to reinforce what CNN and MSNBC bemoan about him, or that they could just follow up on the latest that Trump has to offer, but in showbiz it's always best to capitalize on great talent.
In keeping with the spirit of the horse-race style analysis of how the candidates will fare in this primary season, here are some predictions on how certain late night and political comedy shows will approach Sanders in the coming weeks:
John Oliver (Last Week Tonight): After his latest segment advocating for Medicare For All, it seems as though he would be more in line to accept the senator while trying to make some elaborate sexual metaphor in favor of one of his proposals. However, given his wonky woke-heavy nature it wouldn't be surprising if he sides more with Warren if she continues to drag out her candidacy. Chance of bending the knee: 70%
Stephen Colbert (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert): Colbert is by far the most obsessed when it comes to talking about Trump. Practically everything goes back to him, even when he's interviewing a movie star who's trying to stay as apolitical as possible. Along with the Russiagate brain worm so heavily burrowed into his head, it wouldn't be surprising if he only gives a passing glance to Sanders in favor of making the zillionth joke about Putin pulling the strings in American democracy. It also wouldn't be surprising if he wanted to see Biden win simply because he'd be the easiest to make jokes about. Add to the fact that he considers Sanders's reasonable critique of the Washington Post's bias against him as Trump-like and lately made a jab about the Bernie Bros when this year has exposed without a shadow of a doubt how much of a smear it is and there's not much confidence to be had with him. Still, Sanders has been the most frequent politician on his show so there is a chance he might be bringing him on for more than ratings. Chance of bending the knee: 50%
Seth Meyers (Late Night With Seth Meyers): Meyers has sort of become a diet Jon Stewart with his A Closer Look segments and tends to focus more on the foibles of Trump as Colbert does, though in much less of a smug manner. He tends to be quite favorable to the senator and ribs him more on his mannerisms rather than his policy or supporters, perhaps indicating that he's a soft Sanders supporter. Perhaps there is reason to be suspicious of vague indications of favorability as late night hosts would prefer not to press their thumbs on the scales but it's hard to imagine who else he might be in favor of, and he'll be more than happy to dedicate more time on his segments to busting out his Sanders impersonation. Chance of bending the knee: 85%
Bill Maher (Real Time With Bill Maher): This man is an elitist asshole through and through and definitely looks like he'd relate a lot to a psychopathic micromanager who thinks they know best on how to deal with the rabble like Bloomberg. Maybe he would come around to Sanders as he also wants to see the Democrats grow some balls and push for bolder policies, but he wouldn't be much sympathetic to his courting of the working class and Muslims. Plus, he just loooooooves himself some contrarianism. Chance of bending the knee: 35%
Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon (Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon): Both of them are only political out of circumstance. If it were up to them they would be dedicating their entire show to the latest Hollywood gossip or goofing off. They wouldn't want to declare their true preferences in favor of being impartial, so seeing the writing on the wall they'll happily play along. Additionally, Kimmel has been quite emotional and sympathetic about the troubles others face with the current healthcare system and Fallon generally likes to get along with anyone and everyone so they'll definitely have no problem accepting him for future appearances. Chance of bending the knee: 90%
Hasan Minhaj (Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj): Much as a Hasan Minhaj endorsement isn't something most candidates would covet, it would certainly be surprising if he decided not to be more in favor of Sanders given how well he fits in with voter demographic most likely to go for him. With his public image as the most hip and trendy of the late night/political comedy hosts, the only other potential option would be Pete Buttigieg. And that would do more damage to his brand than the Saudis ever could hope to achieve. Chance of bending the knee: 80%
Trevor Noah (The Daily Show With Trevor Noah): Though no one really would care to pay mind to Noah, it wouldn't be a surprise to see that he opts to go for Sanders simply because he wants to be as relevant as possible. Granted, he concern-trolled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about paying for the Green New Deal, but he mostly takes his cues from what he sees on the news along with 1990s black comedians. Considering that, there might be a chance he swings for Biden or is secretly Yang-Gang-Or-Bust, which complicates the calculation a bit. If he truly were on either side, it's likely he's aware that would only diminish his relevancy further. Chance of bending the knee: 75%
Saturday Night Live: One could make the case that any of these shows supporting Sanders would only be doing so out a cynical impulse to curry favor with younger audiences, and to some degree it's true. But SNL will absolutely, 100% be the most opportunistic in making an about face much like how they went 110% anti-Trump despite giving him the longest fellatio he's ever had in his life. That is unless Lorne Micheals puts the show into neoliberal overdrive or Micheal Che's grudge with Jack Allison seeps into even the political such that he will only approve sketches where Larry David plays him as a bitter joyless bastard, in which case one can only hope NBC becomes state-run so that this programming gets shut down forever. Chance of bending the knee: 40%
Samantha Bee (Full Frontal With Samantha Bee): Bee was one of the most adamant cheerleaders for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and holds within her a fiery grudge against the senator for ruining her chances to see the first ever girl boss for president. She's coyly made jokes at his and his supporters' expense and embodies the warped pseudo-intersectionality of first-world feminism that definitely has her hoping for a Warren/Klobuchar ticket to come true. That being said, she definitely doesn't want to deal with Trump for another term and holds the most sincere rage for his administration among this list, so perhaps she'll come to see the light and perhaps do a segment to defend against the misogyny thrown at Nina Turner or Briahna Joy Gray as an olive branch. Then again, she did say superdelegates wouldn't subvert the will of the people, so it might be a toss-up weighed a bit more to launching another barrage of shoddy opposition research at him. Chance of bending the knee: 45%
