Stumped by Trump: the Onion struggles to lampoon a buffoon

Cory Doctorow 8:49 am Tue Mar 14, 2017

Trump has been an unwelcome godsend to some political parodists, but for The Onion, Trump's self-parodying nature is more hurdle than boon.

Even the baseless legal threats that thin-skinned Trump fires off when The Onion scores a direct hit do little to buoy the spirits of the magazine's writers and editors. They've been mocking Trump for 20 years, but the thought of covering Trump for four years as president fills them with "a comedic dread."

Of the more than a hundred mostly Trump-related headlines submitted that day, only twenty-six received grunts of approval. These were gradually whittled down to five, including “rodent clearly making its way through steve bannon’s body throughout national security meeting,” and “man awakening from seven-hour slumber horrified by modern world.” Others failed for a variety of reasons. “trump unveils massive bailout program for companies run into ground by idiotic sons” was not Bolton’s favorite Trump-sons joke. A writer in the corner waved away “damning intelligence reveals several trump aides currently trapped in russian ambassador’s neck flaps.” He said, “We just had a neck-flaps one.”

THE ONION STRUGGLES TO LAMPOON TRUMP
[Charles Bethea/New Yorker]

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