(ED. NOTE/CORRECTION: A Fox News spokesperson reached out to let us know that the awkward laughter heard during the interview was not a laugh track but actual human laughter: “This was not a laugh track – it was a live studio audience.”)
Either Donald Trump has finally realized that running for president in 2024 would be a terrible idea, or he’s accidentally begun cultivating a career as some sort of half-witted raconteur. Just hours after announcing that he’ll be commemorating the 20th anniversary of 9/11 by providing color commentary for Saturday’s Evander Holyfield fight, the former president popped up on Fox News, where he had his ass kissed was interviewed by Greg Gutfeld.
As if Gutfeld’s squirm-inducing obsequiousness wasn’t enough to make you want to poke your ears and eyes out with a blunt instrument, Fox News wanted to make sure that no one misunderstood how Team Trump they really are… by adding a bizarre laugh track to the Q&A.
When Gutfeld launched into his line of hard-hitting questions, like what Trump—the man who suggested we all drink bleach to take care of the COVID problem—would tell the Fox News host’s unvaccinated wife about getting a jab. Trump’s response:
“Well first of all I’d say, why is she not doing it? Does she have some kind of religious thing?”
Huh?
When Gutfeld admitted that it was simply because his wife is skeptical of the opinion of medical experts, Trump—Freud incarnate—remembered something about Gutfeld’s spouse: “Well, she’s Russian? That’s the end of that.”
Cue the uproarious laughter.
Gutfeld asks Trump what he'd say to Gutfeld's wife to try to convince her to get vaccinated (he announces she's unvaccinated). Trump responds by saying he recommends she get vaccinated but if she doesn't want to, that's okay too. pic.twitter.com/rrn010vS4o
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 9, 2021
Trump then went off on one of his babbling rants where he’s trying to talk about history and using words that he doesn’t understand (hey, two syllables can be tough). Fortunately, no one was listening, as it was impossible to hear over the computerized hysterics happening in the background. Honestly, if you muted the sound, it would be hard to know whether Gutfeld was laughing, having a stroke, or had accidentally just sharted.
The set got even more slap-happy when Trump started talking about the Taliban, which, let’s face it, is always a laugh-out-loud topic.
Trump suggests Taliban leaders communicate in primitive grunts and groans pic.twitter.com/BqrhpJ6kIz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 9, 2021
Somewhere in the Fox News studios, the echoes of Gutfeld’s maniacal laughter is still ringing. Then again, it’s just these sorts of hijinks one should expect from a man with an exclamation point in his show’s title!