ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how Donald Trump dominated late night comedic discourse during every phase of the 2016 presidential election campaign, receiving far more attention than his Republican rivals during the nomination stage and far more than Hillary Clinton during the general election. The comedians offered political discourse whose focus resembled mainstream election news coverage of presidential campaigns: very little policy-oriented commentary and a heavy focus on political strategy and personality. Using a content analysis of nightly host monologues and a qualitative study of the once-a-week humorists, this chapter examines how the late night humorists treated the leading 2016 presidential candidates during both the nomination phase and (especially) the general election.
