Conservatives reject liberal humor in Trump era: Dave Berg – USA TODAY

Dave Berg Published 11:04 a.m. ET Feb. 6, 2017 | Updated 19 hours ago

Kate McKinnon and Hillary Clinton on SNL on Oct. 3, 2015.(Photo: Dana Edelson, AP)

The Trump administration regularly challenges the legitimacy of mainstream journalists, claiming theyall but openly favored Hillary Clinton during the recent presidential election. Many of Trump's supporters agreeand have turned to other news sources, such as Fox News, talk radio hosts and social media networks.

But thatrejection of the mainstream news media is only part of a larger story. Conservativesare wary of the entire liberal entertainment media, especially late-night comedians. While Jay Leno and Johnny Carson used to skewer both sides of the political spectrum with equal glee, todays hosts dish up humor that is anything but even-handed. Instead, they seem to be on a mission to destroy Trump and the Republican Party, doing monologues that often sound more like anti-Trump diatribes. In fairness, Jimmy Fallons only agenda is to entertain, but he is a notable exception.

As a result, many conservatives are clicking off the late-night showsand switching instead to right-leaning media, which is increasingly offering comedic material to fill the void left by the professional comedians. Some of the jokes are really funny. The go-to meme is mainstream journalisms bias against Trump such asPulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Michael Ramirezs depiction of an anchorman delivering these words: In other disturbing news President Donald Trump is doing what he promised in his campaign.

Nothing bothers conservatives more than liberals who sanctimoniously preach the virtues of tolerancebut dont take their own advice. Chicks on The Right recently ran a photo of a scowling woman pointing an elongated index finger with this caption: Im a tolerant liberal!Agree with me or else youre a racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, redneck, gun toting, America loving bigot.

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When Clinton referred to half of Trumps supporters as a basket of deplorables during a campaign fundraiser, she unknowingly struck the rawest conservative nerve of all. Trumpsters" immediately saw this as confirmation that Clinton wasnt just talking about their candidate. She was wagging her menacing index finger at them as well.

This campaign game-changer was lost on most of the late-night joke writers, who saw it only as another opportunity to satirize Trump and his supporters. James Corden joked thatTrumps supporters wanted Clinton to apologize and also explain what deplorable means. But conservatives embraced the phrase as a badge of honor.Trump made an entrance at a Miami rally with a big screen image of French revolutionaries from the musical Les Miserables projected behind him. But the title was changed to Les Deplorables.

Retailers began selling T-shirts with funny versions of the meme, such as Team Deplorable and Friends Dont Let Friends Join the Basket of Deplorables.

One of Trumps inaugural balls was even called the Deploraball.

Hollywood celebrities provide some of the richest material. Not all of them, just the self-important, preachy, hypocritical ones. When the dour, pedantic actors at the nationally televised Screen Actors Guild Awards bashed Trump non-stop, Fox News'Tucker Carlson quipped: This spells trouble ahead for the new administration becausewhen you lose Hollywood, you dont just lose Hollywood. You also lose Santa Monica and some parts of Pacific Palisades. And thats not good. Conservative satirist Ann Coulter tweeted: Big rally last night by SAG Sharia Activist Group.

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Talk show host Chelsea Handler smugly told Varietythat she wouldnt interview Melania Trump because she can barely speak English. It was an odd thing for her to say, as the first ladywould be a great get for Handlers struggling show. Besides, Trump speaks five languages, and Handler doesnt even have a college degree. The irony was not lost on the first ladys supporters, who vented on Twitter.

From @mljackson12, "Perhaps Chelsea should give the interviewin French, German or Serbian? No wait Slovenian." And @ms_erika74, "Chelsea Handler speaksfluent vodka, thats about it."

Homegrown conservative humor has filled a need that late-night comedians have ignored for too long. They have done so at their own peril, as they will inevitably be facing stiffer competition from comedy shows hosted by comedians who understand the political sensibilities of people in the vast red political landscape of the country.

Dave Berg, author ofBehind the Curtain: An Insiders View of Jay Lenos Tonight Show, co-produced the show for 18 years. Follow him on Twitter @TonightShowDave.

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Conservatives reject liberal humor in Trump era: Dave Berg - USA TODAY