The Democratic National Committee likely made actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus of the sitcom Veep the host of the last night of its convention, the night Joe Biden is to accept the party’s presidential nomination, with the thought of lightening the mood of the convention after days of serious warnings about the state of the country under President Trump.
But Louis-Dreyfus’s jokes and bits juxtaposed against still-serious programming left some political observers bewildered.
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang introduced Louis-Dreyfus, and they engaged in banter revolving around intentionally mispronouncing Vice President Mike Pence’s name, a reference to those who mispronounce Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s first name.
KAMALA V PAHNCE: @OfficialJLD and @AndrewYang jab at @VP at #DemConvention:
JLD: “I can’t wait to see her debate our current Vice President, “Meeka Pints.” Or is it “Paints”?
Yang: It’s pronounced “Pahnce”
JLD: It’s some kind of weird foreign name
Yang: Not very American sounding pic.twitter.com/8aBCFsGW95— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 21, 2020
The bit received mixed reviews.
We need to talk about the Democrats’ swing and miss relationship with comedy.
— Brittany Shepherd (@brittanys) August 21, 2020
The biggest blunder came after a long segment about Biden’s Catholic faith and how it has helped him deal with personal tragedy.
Louis-Dreyfus had a jarring transition after an emotional clip of Biden. “Just remember, Joe Biden goes to church so regularly that he doesn’t even need tear gas and a bunch of federalized troops to help him get him there,” she said, referencing law enforcement dispersing demonstrators outside the White House so Trump could visit the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was set on fire the day before.
Political observers found it “off-key,” as the New York Times’s Jonathan Martin put it.
Yup. Felt off-key https://t.co/npbACsHZqQ
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) August 21, 2020
“I’m not quite sure why they paired disarmingly sincere faith night with Resistance comedy night, but they’re really not communicating at the same level here,” said NBC News policy editor Benjy Sarlin.
I’m not quite sure why they paired disarmingly sincere faith night with Resistance comedy night, but they’re really not communicating at the same level here
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) August 21, 2020
“I wonder if Biden is watching and if he’s comfortable with the bizarre, unfunny jokes ruining his vibe,” said CNN contributor Scott Jennings.
I wonder if Biden is watching and if he’s comfortable with the bizarre, unfunny jokes ruining his vibe
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 21, 2020
Later, she brought back the joke about mispronouncing the vice president’s name alongside a joke about mail-in voting.
“Joe Biden shares John Lewis’s belief that every vote matters. Personally, I plan to follow the example of six current Cabinet members, Vice President ‘Pahnce,’ and President Trump himself, and vote by mail,” Louis-Dreyfus said.
She then directed people to text the Biden campaign number: “3-0-3-3-0. That would be the president’s golf score if he didn’t cheat.”
A staff member on Trump’s presidential campaign, who is an apparent Veep fan, chimed in on the jokes. “I’ll never forgive the #DemConvention writers for doing this to Julia Louis-Dreyfus,” rapid response director Andrew Clark said.
I’ll never forgive the #DemConvention writers for doing this to Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) August 21, 2020
Louis-Dreyfus was not the only comedian featured on the last night of the convention. TikTok star Sarah Cooper, known for lip-syncing to Trump, also made an appearance, angering some on the Left for receiving just as much speaking time as leftist firebrand New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
???????????????? https://t.co/oevx4x3fZ3
— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) August 21, 2020
