Too True To Parody

This is bonkers, incoherent culture war grievance stoking from Trump pic.twitter.com/63RptUHQjV

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2020

I’m repeating myself, but my memory goes back to the first seasons of SNL, when it hadn’t yet adopted the “L” because that title belonged to a Howard Coselll show nobody remembers (nobody remembers Cosell either, except us old guys). Anyway, one of the earliest sketches was Buck Henry (of sainted memory) playing a hapless talk radio host trying to inspire, and then ignite, phone calls. He starts out calm and rational, like a parody of NPR (this was before NPR was a thing), but when he gets no response he escalates until he’s declaiming that he’s for slaughtering puppies and eating babies for breakfast. None of this makes the phone ring, of course, and his desperation is hilarious.

You can see where this is going. Trump is seeking the outrage that will get the band back together and recreate the perfect storm that won him the brass ring four years ago. If he can just find the right claim he’s sure he can inspire just enough votes to put him over the top again. It isn’t going to work, but his desperation is hilarious. The best part is how flatly he states it. Even he knows he’s lying this time, and he won’t even try to sell it. He’s just throwing lures in the water, hoping the fish will bite.

His desperation is truly hilarious.