So wrote Mark Twain in "The Mysterious Stranger", which brings me to Trump's recent War on Laughter: the cancellation of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the most-watched late-night program on US broadcast television and a frequent platform of satire aimed at Donald Trump. It will end its 10-year run in May 2026.
When Trump’s proxies at CBS cancelled Colbert, they issued the following statement: "This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount" (or to Paramount trying to stop Trump from scuttling their merger)
Trump’s fear of being laughed at is nothing short of pathological, which he shares with pretty much every dictator in the world. You might have already noticed that there isn’t a thriving comedy scene in Pyongyang.
As for Trump winning the War on Laughter, he can cancel all the comedians he wants, but he will never make us stop laughing at him.
