On FNC’s MediaBuzz Sunday morning, host Howard Kurtz and media analyst Steve Krakauer slammed leftist late-night “comedians” for refusing to mock President Biden, despite spending the last four years endlessly lambasting Donald Trump. At one point, Kurtz even quipped that the Saturday Night Live cast member tapped to play Biden in skits should get a stimulus check for being out of a job.
“Saturday Night Live, which spent four years pummeling Donald Trump, seems to have forgotten that Joe Biden is president, not a single skit,” Kurtz informed viewers at the top of a segment late in the 11:00 a.m. ET hour. He then teed up a montage of late-night hosts on ABC, NBC, and CBS offering up only the gentlest Biden jokes that he deemed “pretty lame.” The anchor specifically called out hosts like The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert, who skip the jokes completely and “just come out and praise Joe Biden.”
Krakauer hammered the Democratic hacks masquerading as “comics”:
Yeah, look, I think this – we’re seeing this shift in the last four years, right? There was a rise of I would say “clapture,” you know, it was people saying, “Oh, yeah that is very perceptive.” You know, and that was how it was – they became this moralizing social commentators instead of late-night hosts that pushed boundaries.
While Kurtz conceded that “Trump provided better material” to comedians during his time in office, the media critic pointedly asked: “...but the late-night comics who went totally political against Donald Trump, and I’m including, you know, Seth Meyers and Samantha Bee and the whole gang, are they just gonna give Joe Biden a four-year pass?”
Krakauer rightfully noted that there was “certainly more than enough material...in the Joe Biden administration so far.” He also reminded that “we saw this during the Obama era and we’re gonna see this now. It’s only more glaring because of the last four years.”
Given the obvious wealth of mockable material on Biden, Kurtz again called out Saturday Night Live: “Now SNL, you know, created this entire franchise for Alec Baldwin mocking Donald Trump seemingly every week, and now there hasn’t – the show can’t find a single funny thing about Joe Biden, not one skit since he became president?”
Krakuer denounced the “shocking” omission: “I mean, they haven’t even portrayed the character of Joe Biden since he’s been inaugurated, that is absolutely insane. And look, they’re going to have to make a choice because this is not sustainable.”
Kurtz wrapped up the exchange by joking: “Yeah, the guy who was picked to play Biden, he should get a stimulus check, because he’s out of work.”
Of course, the late-night hosts themselves haven’t been shy about openly rooting for Biden. Just days into the Democratic administration, Jimmy Kimmel proudly announced there was “nothing to criticize” about Biden. Vile left-wing host Samantha Bee similarly proclaimed that she was able to make an “effortless pivot” as Biden took office and was “having so much fun now.” Even media outlets like CNN and NPR swooned that comics were “emancipated from the burden of having to cover Trump all of the time” and could allegedly be funny again. A prediction that has clearly been proven incorrect.
Here is a full transcript of the February 28 MediaBuzz discussion:
11:52 AM ET
HOWARD KURTZ: Saturday Night Live, which spent four years pummeling Donald Trump, seems to have forgotten that Joe Biden is president, not a single skit. As for the late-night network shows, well, take a look.
JIMMY KIMMEL [ABC, FEBRUARY 2]: I do have to say, I’m a little bit bothered by the Biden dogs. It’s not the dogs themselves that bother me, it’s that there are now multiple accounts posting tweets from their point of view.
JIMMY FALLON [NBC, JANUARY 25]: Man, between Tom Brady and Joe Biden, what a month it’s been for a 78 -year-old white guys.
STEPHEN COLBERT: All the biggest stories involve old men crying. It’s like being at Denny’s the day they discontinued the $6.99 Superslam. The first weeping septuagenarian, President Joe Biden. And it is our good grace that he is willing to weep.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Biden No Butt of Late-Night Jokes; Network Comics, ‘SNL’ Give Prez A Pass]
KURTZ: And we are back with Steve Krakauer. Are these so-called Biden jokes, I guess the term would be “pretty lame”? And some of these comics like Colbert, they just come out and praise Joe Biden.
STEVE KRAKAUER [FOURTH WATCH EDITOR & HOST]: Yeah, look, I think this – we’re seeing this shift in the last four years, right? There was a rise of I would say “clapture,” you know, it was people saying, “Oh, yeah that is very perceptive.” You know, and that was how it was – they became this moralizing social commentators instead of late-night hosts that pushed boundaries. I don’t think any late night hosts pushed boundaries or is pushing boundaries other than maybe Bill Maher at this point. So look, I think we’re going to just get this period of time. And honestly, Howie, I think that a part of it is this fracturing of media. The ratings are going down and down and down and now you have only to – you cater to a small subset of the population. What are you going to do, alienate them by making tough, you know, “sleepy Joe” jokes? It’s a really interesting scenario that I think these Colbert and Kimmel and these other late-night hosts have found themselves in.
KURTZ: Now I’m willing to concede that Trump provided better material, he’s a bigger personality, but the late-night comics who went totally political against Donald Trump, and I’m including, you know, Seth Meyers and Samantha Bee and the whole gang, are they just gonna give Joe Biden a four-year pass?
KRAKAUER: Yeah, look, I think we’re gonna have – we’re one month in and we’re going to hit this inflection point where we’re going to have to go in one direction or the other. I think that there’s certainly more than enough material, I would say, in the Joe Biden administration so far. In fact, a lot of the policy decisions that maybe would have been mocked in the Trump era are kind of being continued in the Biden era, which is sort of interesting. But no, look, to your point, absolutely, Donald Trump was a reality TV show figure, he is made for TV mockery by the other side and he almost embraced it. Joe Biden has not, it’s completely different. But look, we saw this during the Obama era and we’re gonna see this now. It’s only more glaring because of the last four years.
KURTZ: Rights. Now SNL, you know, created this entire franchise for Alec Baldwin mocking Donald Trump seemingly every week, and now there hasn’t – the show can’t find a single funny thing about Joe Biden, not one skit since he became president? What’s up with that?
KRAKAUER: Yeah, this is shocking for a couple reasons. I mean, they haven’t even portrayed the character of Joe Biden since he’s been inaugurated, that is absolutely insane. Look, my first job in TV was as an NBC page working at SNL. This was in 2006, 2007, 2008, this is when Saturday Night Live, and going back decades, has been – has kind of had their finger on the pulse of what was culturally relevant, of being anti-establishment, of pushing boundaries and being really funny. And they’re not doing that. And look, they’re going to have to make a choice because this is not sustainable.
KURTZ: Yeah, we gotta jump. Yeah, the guy who was picked to play Biden, he should get a stimulus check, because he’s out of work. Steve Krakauer, thanks very much.
KRAKAUER: Thanks.
