On Monday morning’s Fox and Friends, host Steve Doocy welcomed comedian and author Heather McDonald onto the program to discuss late night hosts and their supposed vendetta against President Trump. Waxing poetic about the good old days of Johnny Carson and the “good-natured poking” that would go on at the expense of whoever was president at the time — compared to say, the reactions to the current administration — Doocy asked his guest: “Can you figure it out why?”
“Well, because they don’t like him,” the former Chelsea Lately panelist answered. “And they didn’t vote for him but they’re probably secretly happy that he won because they have material every single night.”
She continued, “And that is every show, and it does get a little tiring, there are people who would love to have a choice of watching something that could take their minds off all the turmoil that’s going on, and unfortunately you can’t because every single one has the same point of view, and that’s the majority of the comedic material up top.”
You’d have to think that at least a few late night hosts would take umbrage with McDonald’s remarks. Both leading up to the 2016 presidential election and after, the burden of keeping check and calling out Trump on his antics has fallen largely on late night TV hosts, as major news outlets run the risk of being called “fake news” if their reporting appears to be even slightly biased. If nothing else, the reaction to Jimmy Fallon playfully tousling Trump’s hair speaks volumes to that point.
Keeping up with the Trump’s constant tweeting, scandals, White House in-fighting, and assorted public gaffes is no easy task, as the president’s volatile unpredictability can lead to shows having to completely scrap and rewrite segments. Most hosts probably don’t like covering Trump, but unfortunately it’s a necessary evil of the industry.