Can comedy help conquer fascism?

Loudly mocking Trump now may help us avoid “whisper jokes” later

What’s happening in this country right now isn’t funny.

The Trump regime is putting troops on the streets of American cities, ordering extrajudicial killings, engaging in rampant corruption, and denying due process.

So why are people joking about it?

Well, because if we lose our sense of humor, we’ll lose our minds. And because comedy is a great way to get people to pay attention to what’s happening, even if they’re determined to ignore the news.

Donald Trump and Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr obviously see comedy as a threat to their abuses of power because they pressured ABC and its parent Disney to pull late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel off the air last week.

I think comedy has a unique power to persuade people, and that makes it a valuable weapon in the war against fascism. My wife doesn’t agree. She thinks the process of turning right-wing cruelty and corruption into entertainment trivializes what’s happening to our country. She thinks it creates a culture of acceptance when we need the opposite – a culture that is appalled by what’s going on.

To get another view, I contacted my friend Rex Huppke, whose USA Today column often uses humor to highlight the threat of Trumpism. I was one of Rex’s editors when he wrote for the Chicago Tribune, where he penned one of my all-time favorite columns, his 2012 obituary for “Facts.” This column was ahead of its time, coming years before Trump ran for president and launched his all-out assault on the truth.

So, Rex, is comedy really a good way to confront authoritarianism?

"I’m admittedly biased, as I use satire regularly in my columns, but I think it’s a very effective way to push back on the bizarre and often scary things we’ve seen happen since Trump returned to office,” Rex said.

“So much of what he says and does is absurd,” he continued. “Whether it's claiming one crowd is bigger than another when we can clearly see it’s not or, far more seriously, claiming he's a free-speech champion then saying he’ll pull the licenses of networks that criticize him. Lampooning him – basically matching his absurdity – can vividly highlight his hypocrisy and force people to recognize that something's not right.”

I would add that comedy is often an act of rebellion, and we desperately need people to confront and mock authority when it’s behaving the way it is now.

But my wife has valid concerns, too. If humor makes people think Trump’s abuses are just another show that will eventually go away, it is counterproductive. So it’s important for comedy about Trump to be truth-telling – to avoid depicting him as an amusing cartoon character and instead expose him as a toxic force in our world. Spreading public dissatisfaction about the convicted felon in the White House is a necessary act of resistance right now.

And while comedy may serve as an escape valve for us, there’s a lot that we must remain dead serious about.

If we don’t find a way to stop the Trump regime, the only jokes we’ll be able to tell in the future will be what people in Nazi Germany called Flüsterwitze – “whisper jokes.” Those were jokes you dared not say in public if you didn’t want to end up in a concentration camp, or worse.

A Berlin munitions worker was executed in 1944 when she was overheard telling this joke: “Hitler and Goering are standing on top of Berlin’s radio tower. Hitler says he wants to cheer up the German people. Goering says, ‘Why don’t you just jump?’”

Another whisper joke was: “Goering has attached an arrow to the row of medals on his tunic. It reads, ‘Continued on the back.’”

Jews shared jokes as they were persecuted by the Nazis. For example:

“Two Jews are about to be shot. Suddenly the order comes to hang them instead. One says to the other, ‘You see – they’re running out of bullets.’”

Whisper jokes happen in other dictatorships, too. After Vladimir Putin took power in Russia, the government got rid of a TV show called “Kukly” that made fun of politicians, including Putin. But Russians continued to joke more discreetly. An example:

“Stalin appears to Putin in a dream and says: ‘I have two bits of advice for you: Kill off all your opponents and paint the Kremlin blue.’ Putin asks, ‘Why blue?’ Stalin responds: ‘I knew you would not object to the first one.’”

Jokes like that are a rejection of the groupthink that autocrats seek to impose.

My friend Rex says humor about the Trump regime accomplishes two things:

“First, it comforts those who feel overwhelmed, those continuously asking themselves, ‘Am I the only one who sees how nuts this is?’ It lets them know they're not alone. Second, it drives people like Trump bananas. Clearly he hates criticism of any sort, but mockery cuts deeper. That’s why we've seen the late-night hosts become targets. I’m all for comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. As a journalist, it's part of the job description.”

The MAGA fascists have the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court. We have people power… and jokes. I still think we can win.

But in case Trump prevails, here’s a “whisper joke” for you: “A Russian spy, a sexual predator and a billionaire walk into a bar. The bartender says, ‘What can I get you, Mr. President?’”

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