Daily Show Co-Creator Blasts Bannon, Insists Show Was About Calling Out Fake News

Lizz Winstead, co-creator of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, put out a couple of tweets early this morning in an attempt to call out possible supervillain Steve Bannon and his war on the media. One of the tweets was spot on, while the other was an inadvertent admission of failure.

Advertisement

She is correct in the latter tweet, to a degree… The entire Trump Administration’s war on media is about de-legitimizing the media in the eyes of Americans so that they can get away with a whole lot more of what makes them so troublesome.

However, her first tweet, the tweet about the Daily Show’s original purpose, shows just how far off the rails the show has gone.

I watch the Daily Show from time to time because I do happen to like a couple of the comedians on there, but the show’s decline in my eyes, and in the eyes of a lot of folks like me who love comedy, began when it seemed to unofficially declare that liberals were untouchable and conservatives deserved to be mocked nonstop.

Advertisement

What makes the idea of comedy so amazing is that it levels the playing field. Anyone and everyone is fair game to be joked about, taken down a notch, etc. Comedy is essentially the art of funny maliciousness, so long as everything is represented/hit.

But, by and large, only one side is represented and only one side gets hit.

Part of it is pure partisan lean. Comedy Central, like most modern television, leans to the Left, and its views are noticeably liberal. However, plenty of liberals are incredibly funny without making their entire act about attacking the other side. Lewis Black, one of my all time favorites, is incredibly funny because he does take the time to attack both sides. Roy Wood, Jr., one of the comedians I watch the Daily Show for, does the same.

The Daily Show as a whole doesn’t do this, however. It excoriates the Right and bashes conservatives while propping up liberals and espousing their views. Sure, the material is funny at times, but you cannot say that the show is a medium for calling out “bad news sources” anymore. It has become more or less another propaganda outlet for a political ideology, and has done more than its share of providing incorrect or inaccurate information.

Advertisement

You cannot differentiate it from other media outlets who base their coverage on similar styles.

Will The Daily Show miss me if I stop tuning in or stop watching their clips online? Of course not. Will they miss other conservative holdouts who still watch occasionally? No. But that’s fine. They can continue to do what they do. As someone who likes good comedy, though, I lament the loss of quality news parody in this day and age.

God, we could all use more laughs from time to time.

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos