ABSTRACT
Trump Was a Joke explains why satire was better at exposing the absurdity of the Trump presidency than traditional news outlets, and it considers whether the increasing power of satire is healthy for democracy. While satire has played a larger and larger role in shaping public debate since 9/11/2001, the Trump presidency ushered in an era when comedians have been increasingly successful in helping us understand serious issues. From John Oliver to Stephen Colbert, from Samantha Bee to Seth Meyers, and from Michael Moore to Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump and Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer, a wide range of political comedians worked to rescue the American public from the insanity of Trump and everything he represented.
