Pam Bondi Shows Trump Administration How to Neuter Late-Night Comedy
For the first time in what seems like forever, Donald Trump was not the star of Saturday Night Live’s cold open this week. Instead, host Amy Poehler broke out her impression of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Poehler’s BFF, an almost unrecognizable Tina Fey, sported bloated lips for her version of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. It wasn’t anywhere near the triumph of Fey and Poehler as Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton in 2008, but punches were thrown nonetheless.
“What’s up, nerds? Furious to be here,” spat Poehler. “My name is Pam Bondi. I spell it with an ‘I’ cause ‘I ain’t gonna answer any of your questions.’ My time is valuable.”
“I’m the rarest type of person in Washington, D.C.,” offered Fey’s Noem. “A brunette that Donald Trump listens to.”
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In the past, Trump has taken to Truth Social to blast such sketches as unfunny, performed by no-talent comics who suffer from low ratings. Cancellation is always around the corner for shows like Saturday Night Live, according to Trump. As Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel can attest, those aren’t always empty threats.
On weeks when Trump can’t stay up late enough to watch, the White House fills in. After last week’s season opener, spokeswoman Abigail Jackson issued this brittle response: “Reacting to this would require me to waste my time watching it. And like the millions of Americans who have tuned out from SNL, I have more entertaining things to do — like watch paint dry.”
The typical White House reactions to SNL and late-night comedy make the administration appear thin-skinned and humorless, as easily injured by a monologue joke or a silly wig as by troubling economic statistics or civil unrest. But Bondi took a different approach after SNL’s skewering, one that proves much more effective for shutting down satire.
“.@Sec_Noem, should we recreate this picture in Chicago?” she posted. “Loving Amy Poehler!”
Reenacting a comedy sketch in Chicago, where troops are gathering to shut down civilian protests, is disgusting. But Bondi’s approach to SNL — “Ha ha! Great impression!” — likely dismayed Poehler and Fey. Nothing deflates political comedy faster than its targets laughing along and appreciating the joke.
Was Bondi actually loving Poehler? Probably not. But laughing off the sketch stops the conversation cold. If Bondi had fired off an offended tweet, we might be talking about SNL’s cultural relevance all week, applauding the show’s ability to get under the skin of the people in power. Instead, SNL got an amused shrug.
It’s a good lesson for others in Trump’s administration. Huffing and puffing draws attention to the jokes — if comedy hits a nerve, there must be truth to the punchlines. “Canceling” Kimmel made him more popular than ever. Chuckling with SNL, on the other hand, makes its mockery irrelevant.
