Imagine being a late-night host and ignoring the following stories:
- A president suffering from obvious cognitive decline
- A First Son with more baggage than a Samsonite showroom
- A Vice President who loves school buses more than giving coherent answers
- A laptop brimming with the most sordid content, and politically damaging material, possible
- A gubernatorial candidate taken down by rampant cheating allegations
It isn't hard to try. We saw it all in real time as Colbert, Kimmel, Stewart, Meyers, Fallon and Oliver saw all of the above and said, "no, we'll tell another Trump joke (or six) instead."
That's the current, sorry state of late-night television. It also helps explain why Stephen Colbert no longer has a show to call his own.
We've gone from the Johnny Carson model, where a host good-naturedly holds both parties accoutable - to activists who do all they can to campaign for Democrats.
Sometimes, they take that task literally.
Joe Biden and Barack Obama are headed to L.A. for a fundraiser with Jimmy Kimmel and George and Amal Clooney, but a street artist is welcoming them with fake ads: Biden showering with daughter; Amal as a suicide bomber; George suffering from TDS.https://t.co/dgS39UYooN pic.twitter.com/jadOsWvrSm
— Paul Bond (@WriterPaulBond) June 13, 2024
Now, late-night activists are ignoring another massive scandal in plain sight. The politician at the heart of the imbroglio is almost too farcically flawed to believe.
If you wrote up a character like Maine's Senatorial hopeful Graham Platner, you might have your Hollywood agent laugh you out of the room.
Wait ... he had a Nazi tattoo that he kept for nearly 20 years? He served in the U.S. Military but has mocked his fellow soldiers in the most demeaning way possible? He sent his wife out to defend him against charges of possible infidelity? His social media posts could keep an oppo research team busy for months?
That Graham Platner?
Yes. And, if you Google "Jimmy Kimmel Graham Platner" along with other late-night hosts you get bupkis. Nothing. Nada.
Except Jon Stewart. The former and semi-current "Daily Show" host invited Platner onto his podcast, "The Weekly Show," and treated the meeting like a campaign-sponsored affair.
Nazi tattoo? Why, that's just an asterisk on his "refreshing" resume.
You have been caricatured in many ways, in the national media ... And so to be able to spend an hour or so just getting to know you and getting to know your story, you really make a lot more sense to me now.
In Stewart's microscopic defense, that chat took place several weeks ago. Since then, more campaign bombshells have dropped. More may follow.
Of course, when billionaire Elon Musk raised his hand, twice, in a gesture that resembled a Nazi salute Stewart couldn't hide his glee.
Choose a Nazi tattoo that stays on your body until your Senate campaign finds the ink "problematic?" Nothing to see here. Move along.
And that's exactly how late-night hacks treat any story that hurts the Democrats.
Nothing. To. See. Here.
Naturally, the host of Fox News' "Gutfeld!" happily tees off on Platner. As well he should. It's what any late-night host should do.
At least in a sane world.
And, if Colbert were still losing millions for CBS, "The Late Show" host would ignore Platner's slow-motion train wreck of a campaign, too.
