Conservatives: Why so serious?

Comedy hasn’t exactly been kind to conservatives in recent years.

Late-night hosts and “Saturday Night Live” carpet-bomb the GOP with impunity. The number of right-leaning comics could fit in an old-fashioned phone booth.

Conservatives have enough to contend with in 2024. Picking fights with comedy outlets must be the very last item on their to-do list. The humor vote is up for grabs, and sour progressives are all but giving it away.

Now, comedy could be the right’s secret weapon in the culture wars.

The new woke bylaws have had a chilling effect on humor, from neutralizing R-rated romps like “Old School” and “Animal House” to punishing comedians for telling the “wrong” jokes.

Conservatives have, by and large, defended free speech and humor in the process. The political party is too often associated with stiff, buttoned-up voters, fairly or unfairly. Now, they’re standing up for the right to tell tasteless jokes.

That kind of brand upgrade matters. And it’s a winning issue. Woke may rule social media, but its actual numbers are far less than one suspects.

As a result, conservatives have become unlikely allies with the likes of Ricky Gervais, Dave Chappelle, and Joe Rogan, free speech warriors all. That cool quotient also matters to an ideological party lacking A-list support.

That’s why it’s so disappointing to see the feud flowing between Kari Lake’s senatorial campaign and the Babylon Bee.

The latter is one of the sharpest comedy institutions in the country. It’s like the Onion used to be — funny, unsparing, and hilarious. Except the Onion went woke and refused to hold Democrats accountable with its satire.

The Bee, unabashedly Christian and pro-life, targets the woke left regularly but still torments right-leaning targets.

Consider:

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So it wasn’t a shock to see the Bee tease the Lake campaign for what some saw as its pro-life flip-flop. Lake previously praised an Arizona state law banning abortions but recently announced her opposition.

Lake defended the move, saying the ban “is not going to survive November” due to its current flaws.

The Bee targeted her all the same.

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The official Lake X account didn’t take the satirical swipe well.

"This is reprehensible and it isn't even valid satire. Disgusting."

Other right-leaning X accounts also scolded the site for the faux news story. Some promised to “unfollow” the Bee.

Comedy is always subjective, but that wasn’t the source of the outrage. Critics argued a right-leaning comedy platform has an unwritten obligation to avoid targeting conservatives. That’s not how political satire works, of course.

Conservatives have been slamming late-night shows and “SNL” alike for refusing to hold Democrats accountable.

Comedian Lou Perez offered some snark advice for Lake’s media team.

“Missed opportunity for the Kari Lake War Room to claim the Democrats stole the Arizona election and Kari Lake's sense of humor,” Perez told Align.

Team Lake may have taken a cue from a certain former president.

Donald Trump often complains about the attacks on him from “Saturday Night Live” and elsewhere. He even fumed, again, about Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel reading his critical Tweet about his hosting gig just days ago.

Trump, who often loves poking fun at himself, even once suggested Hollywood’s extreme comedic bias deserves scrutiny.

"It’s truly incredible that shows like 'Saturday Night Live,' not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of 'the other side….’

"Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this? There must be Collusion with the Democrats and, of course, Russia! Such one sided media coverage, most of it Fake News."

The “threat” began, and ended, on social media. He did nothing of the kind.

The Bee responded to Lake’s attack with (what else?) another funny fake headline:

Report: Satire Is Great, As Long As It Never Targets Any of My Own Beliefs.

Conservatives have enough to contend with in 2024. Picking fights with comedy outlets must be the very last item on their to-do list. The humor vote is up for grabs, and sour progressives are all but giving it away.

If conservatives lose their funny bone in an election year, It’ll be no laughing matter.