Late-night hosts focused almost all their jokes on Donald Trump before the presidential election, but a new study shows it didn’t seem to change voters’ minds.
According to the Media Research Center, a staggering 98% of the political jokes by hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and Saturday Night Live between September 3 and October 25 were aimed at Trump. Out of 1,463 jokes, 1,428 mocked him—a 40:1 ratio compared to jokes about other politicians.
Even when Joe Biden was mentioned, the jokes often came with comparisons to Trump. For example, Seth Meyers joked about Biden’s age in June but quickly pivoted to Trump’s legal troubles, calling him a “demented 77-year-old criminal.”
In September, Kimmel’s wife made an appearance on his show, telling Trump to “shut up and go away” and suggesting he spend his days “cheating at golf and watching Newsmax.” Kimmel himself later went on a 20-minute rant about why he believes Trump is unfit to lead, admitting, “Am I biased? Yes. Do I have good reasons? Yes.”
SNL also joined the fray, with Maya Rudolph’s brief appearance as Kamala Harris sparking complaints that NBC was giving unfair airtime to one candidate.
Trump’s legal troubles, like the hush money trial, provided even more material for the hosts. Colbert called it the “faking business records to cover up banging a porn star trial” and joked about Trump’s lack of concern for his marriage, quoting Trump as saying, “Don’t worry, I won’t be on the market long.”
Despite all this focus, the relentless jokes didn’t seem to sway the election as intended, leaving late-night TV as much a part of the political spectacle as the campaigns themselves.
