Trump Leads the Joke Race
CENTER FOR MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
May 4, 2017
Contact: Dr. S. Robert Lichter 202-302-5523; [email protected]
TRUMP JOKES SET RECORD FOR FIRST 100 DAYS
During his first hundred days, Donald Trump attracted over 1000 jokes from leading late- night TV talk show hosts, more jokes than other recent presidents attracted in their entire first year in office, according to a new study released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University. The study also found that Stephen Colbert told the most jokes about Trump among leading talk show hosts. According to CMPA Director Dr Robert Lichter, “Donald Trump is head and shoulders above the competition as the politician late night comedians most love to hate.”
The study covered 2094 political jokes from the opening monologues on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah from January 20 through April 29, 2017. CMPA will update these joke totals throughout the Trump administration. We thank the Media Research Center for providing access to video of the shows.
. Major Findings:
President Trump was the target of 1060 jokes during his first 100 days in office, more than his recent predecessors attracted during their entire first year in office -- Barack Obama in 2009 (936 jokes), George W. Bush in 2001 (546 jokes), and Bill Clinton in 1993 (440 jokes).
Trump is on track to easily eclipse the most jokes about any individual tracked by CMPA from 1992 through 2012 – 1717 by Bill Clinton in 1998, the year dominated by news of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton’s impeachment.
The amount of Trump jokes nearly tripled the combined totals of all Democratic politicians (95 jokes) and Republican politicians (290 jokes) combined (385), outside his own administration.
Trump’s family members were the targets of an additional 97 jokes, more than all Democrats combined. When the Trump family jokes are combined with the 373 jokes
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Stephen Colbert featured the most Trump jokes (337), followed closely by Trevor Noah (315). Lagging behind were Jimmy Fallon (231) and Jimmy Kimmel (177).
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Note: In 1993, 2001, and 2009, the sample of late night comedians/hosts included Jay Leno, David Letterman,and Conan O’Brien. In addition, the 1993 sample included Arsenio Hall, the 2001 sample included Bill Maher, and the 2009 sample included Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon.
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