Volume XX Number 1: January/February 2006

The President as Punchline Political Humor on Late Night TV During the Bush Years

Since George W. Bush became President in 2001, we have logged 15,400 jokes about public affairs and public figures from the monologues of late night television comics Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. This issue of Media Monitor chronicles the most frequent targets of humor on TV during the first five years of the Bush Presidency. We also compare these results to late night humor during the first five years of Bill Clinton's presidency.

Major Findings:

*Late-Night Bush Bash Nearly 1 in 4 jokes in 2005 targeted President Bush. Page 2

*Comedian's Best Friend Bush has averaged over 500 jokes per year since 2001. Page 4

*The Personal Touch Personal jokes about the President outnumber jokes about his policies by 3 to 2. Page 6

*Stupid White Man? Over 40% of all jokes portray Bush as stupid or uninformed. Page 6

*Ire Over Iraq Iraq attracts 4 times as many jokes as any other policy debate. Page 6

*Partisan Punchlines Bush is attracting more jokes than President Clinton did. Page 4 The President as Punchline Number of Jokes 2005 George W. Bush 544

Michael Jackson 413 Bill Clinton 115

Dick Cheney 82 Robert Blake 80 Martha Stewart 66

Saddam Hussein 60 Arnold Schwarzeneggar 32 Hillary Clinton 31

Tom Delay 26

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Note: Based on 2,391 jokes by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien.

Nearly one quarter (23%) of all jokes about public figures in 2005 were directed toward George W. Bush. Michael Jackson's legal trouble and eccentricities placed him solidly in second place. Bill Clinton started and ended the year with partnerships with the president's father to help the victims of the Tsunami in Asia and Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf coast, which provided the comics with enough material to place him in third place.

President Bush's second inauguration and his delivery of the State of the Union Address kept him in the punchlines early in 2005. Jokes totals spiked again as gas prices rose, and the president traveled to Rome for the Pope's funeral. His highest monthly total in the year came in December, as his poll ratings continued to drop. 94 100 Inauguration Bush Jokes Over Time 2005 90 83 Number of Jokes 80 74 Hurricane 70 Katrina 61 Aftermath 60 52 48 50 Record Low Pope's Poll Numbers 40 Funeral and 27 30 40 Rising Gas Prices 20 22 20 10 11 11 0 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC Note: Based on the number of jokes by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien.

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Total Number of Late-Night Jokes 5000 4544 4455 4209 4222 4000 3471 3746 3102 3000 3264 3222 2391 2472 2000 2453 2463 Lewinsky Election Scandal Election Election 1000 Year Year Year

0 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05

Note: Based on the number of jokes by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien directed toward public figures.

The Bush Years The Clinton Years 2001-2005 1993-1997 Number of Jokes

2000 2000 1,112 1500 1500 1,112 1,129 1000 1,129 1000 476 500 500 281

0 0 Leno Letterman O'Brien Leno Letterman O'Brien

Note: Based on the number of jokes by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien.

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The Bush Years -- Number of Jokes 2001-2005

George W. Bush 2,723 Bill Clinton 1,489 Michael Jackson 545 Dick Cheney 456 John Kerry 439 Martha Stewart 369 Osama bin Laden 324 Saddam Hussein 321 Al Gore 315 Gary Condit 266 Arnold Schwarzeneggar 266

0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500 2750 Note: Based on 15,400 jokes by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien.

George W. Bush was the target of 18% of the 15,400 jokes we logged during the first five years of his presidency. During Bill Clinton's first five years in office, he was the target of 16% of the 16,115 jokes about public figures.

First Five Clinton Years -- Jokes 1993-1997

Bill Clinton 2,522 Bob Dole 993 O.J. Simpson 863 Hillary Rodham Clinton 282 Newt Gingrich 261 Al Gore 237 Ross Perot 226 Jack Kevorkian 189 Bob Packwood 183 Ted Kennedy 169

0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500 2750 Note: Based on 16,115 jokes by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien.

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Presidential Jokes Over Time 1000 973

800 Clinton 1993-1997 749

600 530 628 378 544 518 400 314 374 Bush 200 237 2001-2005

0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Note: Based on the number of jokes by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien directed toward public figures.

The joke counts for George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have followed different trajectories during the first five years of their respective presidencies. Bush attracted more than twice as many jokes as Clinton during his first year in office, but Clinton was targeted more often in the second year, and they received about equal numbers of jokes in the third. As both ran for reelection in the final year of their first term, Bush pulled ahead again. In fact Republican nominee Bob Dole was the butt of more jokes than the incumbent in 1996. Clinton narrowed the gap in the first year of their second terms, leaving Bush with a narrow lead overall. But Bush will be hard-pressed to retain that lead -- the second year of Bill Clinton's second term (1998) began with the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

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Bush Joke Topics Clinton Joke Topics 2001-2005 1995-1997*

38% 61% personal 62% personal policy

39% policy

n= 2,723 n = 1,819

Top Ten Bush Joke Topics Top Ten Clinton Joke Topics 2001-2005 1995-1997

1. Knowledge, Intellect 1,124 1. Sex Scandals 531 2. Personal Demeanor 259 2. Eating 241 3. Iraq 123 3. Personal Demeanor 126 4. Long Vacations 83 4. Whitewater 87 5. Drinking 77 5. Pop Culture 44 6. Honesty 56 6. Health Care 28 7. Economy 43 7. Drug Use 22 8. Gay Rights 42 8. Honesty 22 9. Terrorism 38 9. Policy Flip-flops 19 10. Energy Prices 31 10. War on Drugs 9

*CMPA began noting joke topics in 1995

Note: Based on the topics around which each joke is framed in the monologues by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien.

Jokes about both Presidents Bush and Clinton targeted their personal failings and foibles just over 60 percent of the time, while less than 40 percent were aimed at their policies. Bush jokes concentrated heavily on his alleged lack of knowledge and/or intellectual acumen; this single category accounted for over 40 percent of all punchlines. Clinton jokes were more varied, although almost 30 percent of all punchlines focused on his sexual behavior, and another 13 percent concerned his eating habits.

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Examples of Late Night Political Humor President Bush admitted that much of the intelligence we went to war with was faulty. And you can't blame him for relying on faulty intelligence. I mean, it got him through college. Jay Leno, 12/15/05 Historians say the most commonly used phrase during inaugural addresses is, ‘My fellow citizens.’ However, the most common phrase during President Bush’s speech is expected to be, ‘My fellow United Statesers. Conan O'Brien, 1/19/05 According to Newsweek magazine, President Bush is now living in a bubble. And Dick Cheney, of course, is living in an undisclosed bubble. David Letterman, 12/14/05

According to the latest poll, if the election were held today, the Supreme Court would re-elect Bush 7-2. Jay Leno, 9/06/04

At the debate, Bush appeared confident, he appeared relaxed, he appeared calm. That’s right, he’s drinking again. David Letterman, 9/30/04

The anesthesiologist said they had a little problem using the gas on Bill Clinton. They couldn’t get him to inhale. Luckily, John Kerry called, spoke to him for ten minutes, he was out like a light. Jay Leno, 9/06/04

Saddam Hussein turned in his big report on weapons. It’s 12,000 pages long. Still, I under- stand it’s an easier read than Al Gore’s new book. That shows you how clever this Saddam Hussein character is. By the time Bush finishes reading this thing, he’ll be out of office. Jay Leno, 12/09/02

Today O.J. broke the NBA record for all-time court appearances. David Letterman, 11/20/96

A new survey shows that the majority of people polled, now consider Bob Dole a nice guy. This poll was a random sampling of crotchety old geezers. Conan O'Brien, 5/13/95

Today Newt Gingrich attacked Santa Claus as just another liberal with a give-away program. Jay Leno, 11/30/94

Top 10 Highlights of Clinton's Health Care Plan #5) All medical bills are sent to Ross Perot... David Letterman, 9/17/93

Note: Joke texts may be altered slightly for brevity.

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Media Monitor (Copyright © 2006) is published bimonthly by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonpartisan and nonprofit research organization. The Center conducts scientific studies of how the media treat social and political issues. Yearly individual and organizational subscriptions are available. E-mail: [email protected] • On the Web: www.cmpa.com • Phone: 202-223-2942 • Fax: 202-872-4014

Editors: Dr. S. Robert Lichter Production and Graphics: Dr. Linda S. Lichter Mary Carroll Willi Research Director: Director of Administration and Publications: Daniel Amundson Keith Bundy Political Studies Director: Media Director: Mary Carroll Willi Matthew T. Felling

Center for Media and Public Affairs The President as Punchline 2100 L Street, N.W. Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20037 Political Humor on Late Night TV During the Bush Years