Satire is one of the highest forms of comedy, in my not-so-humble opinion. But it has become very challenging to write over the past few years. There are several reasons for this, but the main issue is the fact that American politics is so looney that it is difficult to write satire without people believing it is real.
I’m on Twitter quite a bit – probably more than I should be. I tend to post a lot of satirical tweets, some of which bomb and others that go viral. But each tweet I’ve posted that has gone viral has one thing in common: A significant number of people believe it to be real. Here’s an example.
Back in November 2021, after Virginia’s gubernatorial race, I got the crazy idea to post a tweet suggesting Gov. Glenn Youngkin sent a fruit basket and thank-you card to the Lincoln Project for helping him win by engaging in their ridiculous race-baiting antics. I’m sure you remember when they paid people to pretend to be white supremacists supporting Youngkin to smear him as a racist, right? Well, here’s the tweet in question:
BREAKING: Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin sends a fruit basket with a 'thank you' card to the Lincoln Project.
"It's the least we can do. After all, they were instrumental in helping us defeat Terry McAuliffe," said a Youngkin aide.
— Jeff Charles (@JeffOnTheRight) November 3, 2021
The tweet was shared almost 10,000 times and got 52,000 likes. It is my highest-performing satirical tweet yet. But the interesting thing about it is that many – if not most – of those who saw it actually believed Youngkin trolled the Lincoln Project by sending a fruit basket. In fact, even Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears’ team thought it was real and tweeted about it.
Hey @ProjectLincoln, did you enjoy the fruit basket? (asking for a friend 🙃)
— Team Winsome (@winwithwinsome) November 4, 2021
In one of my most crowning achievements, Townhall’s Guy Benson also bought it, and mentioned it on national television during an appearance on Greg Gutfeld’s show.
Well, looks like my fruit basket tweet made it to Fox News.
This might be as close as I get to ever appearing on that network!
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5eF08fu1iz
— Jeff Charles (@JeffOnTheRight) November 4, 2021
But fast forward to today, and it’s even crazier. I posted a tweet that might actually outdo the fruit basket fiasco. It said that a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, is creating separate sections for white and black patrons. Just like the others, many people believe it is real.
BREAKING: Portland restaurant comes up with innovative new idea to promote racial equity: Creating separate sections for black and white diners.
"We want to provide a safe space for our diners of color to ease the trauma of living in this racist society," the owner said.
— Jeff Charles (@JeffOnTheRight) July 27, 2022
In fact, so many people are commenting on it that the tweet made it to Twitter’s “trending” section, which is yet another feather in my cap!
As funny as this whole thing is, it always makes me think: Why are people so quick to believe satire? In the past, you always had some who did not understand satirical writings – perhaps they are the types to take things more literally. But it wasn’t difficult to write it in a way that people knew that I was using humor to make a point.
The problem lies in the fact that satire, by definition, has to be greatly exaggerated to the point that the average reader will know it is not true. The Onion, a satirical news outlet that has been around for decades, has reigned supreme in political satire. Now, we have the Babylon Bee, a conservative organization. When they first emerged, many thought their articles were real as well.
The challenge satirists face is that American politics has become so absolutely bananas that it is highly difficult to exaggerate a situation to the point that people will not think it is real. If I had written the Portland tweet five years ago, most would have known it was a joke.
But nowadays, the idea that progressives in a deep blue city like Portland would racially segregate to create safe spaces is not exactly out of the realm of possibility. After all, school districts are now pushing racially-based “Affinity groups” for minority students. These interest-based groups specifically allow and disallow students on the basis of their skin color.
On college campuses, minority students have been promoting “safe spaces” for members of their ethnicity for years. So, why wouldn’t a restaurant in a progressive area institute such a policy?
The fact that satire is so difficult to write is regrettable – but not because it makes my job harder. It is troubling that our culture has become so insane that people are actually doing the types of things you would normally read about in The Onion or the Babylon Bee. Politics is already fraught enough with vitriol and craziness as it is. But now, I fear we have entered an age in which things are getting crazier and crazier. I’m only hoping things calm down to the point that satire no longer mirrors real life.
