Forum: In Defense of Michelle Wolf
On Saturday, Michelle Wolf reminded us that comedians are going where journalism and our government has failed us
We’ve forgotten how illuminating comedy can be. That is, until we had a woman stand up in front of a crowd of Trump administration officials and members of the most respected press outlets in the country and tell it like it is.
Comedy plays an integral role in the fight against tyranny. There is a reason why so many look to late night comedy shows for news: Comedians offer the truth that no one, including news outlets, are willing to tell. At the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Michelle Wolf took aim.
Wolf roasted Congress, Roy Moore, Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Trump’s pulling out of the Paris agreement and his net worth, Democrats, Don Jr., Mike Pence, Al Franken, Ted Kennedy, Kellyanne Conway, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She unapologetically tore into the very personalities undermining and failing to protect democracy in this country. If you don’t think this is comedy gold yet, keep reading.
She also came for the media. We are living in a time when CNN, in its misguided attempts to offer a “balanced” perspective, gives credibility to those who defend bigots and proud Nazis. A time when calling the president a racist is controversial. A time when news outlets can seriously discuss Trump’s affair with a pornographic film actress, without questioning the moral authority of the Office of the President. Did Trump use a condom? That’s a reasonable question in today’s world.
Media plays a starring role in this Orwellian nightmare. Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper are not pointing out the ridiculousness of the world we find ourselves in because they are contributing to it in a fundamental way. In hosting pointless parades of pundits screaming at each other for hours on end, journalism is losing its ability to report on reality. The focus of the news is on Mueller, Russia, Trump, and the pundits arguing over the latest updates. But what of ICE raids in rural Tennessee? What of the Trump administration’s efforts to remove mandatory insurance coverage for birth control? Wolf is right. The only thing CNN is good for is learning where to find the best noodles. Thank you, Anthony Bourdain.
And Wolf didn’t shy from the Trump administration. What could get Trump mad? Let’s talk about his net worth. We still haven’t seen his taxes — a first in 40 years. We have Sarah “Aunt Lydia” Huckabee Sanders tying it all together by consistently misrepresenting facts, creating outright lies, and questioning the integrity of the very institutions that drive our republic, all with a perfect smokey eye. Contrary to Aunt Lydia’s statements during press conferences, diversity visa-holders do get vetted before they are allowed to enter the country and Trump has constantly incited violence among his supporters. If only Kellyanne Conway would get stuck under a tree, so she couldn’t make it in time to help Sanders lie to the cameras.
And the impact of the constant barrage of lies coming from the White House? They’ve made the country doubt the validity of truth. Reality is upside-down. We are now so accustomed to lies that it’s difficult to identify fact. We’re distracted, as we get lost in the weeds of the Trump administration’s constant barrage of nonsense.
But we have comedians who can observe the world we live in and dismantle the delusion that bigots, racists, Nazis, and rapists who call themselves politicians deserve an iota of respect. We have comedians who, through their observations, are reporting on the state of our democracy. Comedy is political and comedians are going where journalism and our government has failed us.
Supporters say that they like Trump because he is “someone who tells it like it is.” Yet, when Wolf points out that Trump is a bigot, or that Sarah Huckabee Sanders codes Trump’s overt racism, she is blasted as unprofessional and disrespectful. That’s called a reality check.
Comedy has a lot to say about what is real and what is truth. Wolf reminded us that comedians have the ability to hold a mirror up to the audience.
Norman Rozenberg is a writer based in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at @_nprtweets.
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