The absolute worst media trend of the Trump era has been the war on jokes.
From Snopes fact-checking the Babylon Bee to the New York Times writing entire reports on the dangers of political comedy, nothing has been dumber these last three years than the media’s vilification of humor.
It should not go unnoticed, by the way, that the news media’s newfound concern for political satire is reserved almost entirely for jokes told by people on the Right.
Consider, for example, PolitiFact’s fact-check this week of Republican Wisconsin state Rep. Gae Magnafici.
On March 7, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Molly Beck tweeted a Washington Post report with the headline “How the Trump administration squandered time and lost control of the coronavirus crisis.”
Former Wisconsin legislator Adam Jarchow responded to the tweeted story with one word, “Crisis?”
To his question, Magnafici chimed in, saying, “More people have died from knowing Hillary.”
More people have died from knowing Hillary.
— Gae Magnafici (@GMagnafici) March 7, 2020
As of this writing, her tweet, obviously a reference to a running online gag about the Clinton body count, has been shared by six social media users. Exactly 25 people have “liked” it.
If you can believe it, Magnafici’s clowning on the failed two-time presidential candidate landed the state representative in hot water with the media fact-checking group PolitiFact, which awarded her tweet a “Pants on Fire” rating.
“As America’s coronavirus death toll hit 19 and the number of cases topped 400 on March 7, one Wisconsin branch of Twitter wasn’t exactly taking the matter seriously,” reads the nearly 500-word fact-check.
It continues, reading:
Former Wisconsin legislator Adam Jarchow retweeted that, adding “Crisis?” It’s a question Trump has repeatedly raised as well in minimizing the impact of the virus.
The story adds that it was Magnafici’s response to Jarchow that “jumped off the screen.”
“Jumped off the screen”? Six people have shared it, and 25 people have liked it. No one even saw the damn joke, let alone enough to call for an entire fact-check.
Magnafici’s office told PolitiFact that her remark was “clearly a joke.” That this needed to be clarified is a little sad. Then again, it seems clear the fact-checker is looking just to nail the state representative for whatever it can find.
Her office “didn’t respond when asked what in the context would have signaled this was a joke, or whether Magnafici considers the coronavirus a serious matter,” PolitiFact said, adding later that the state representative should know better considering her background in healthcare.
Oh, come on.
“Magnafici, a longtime nurse now serving as a state legislator, responded to a coronavirus post on Twitter by saying ‘more people have died from knowing Hillary.’ A staffer later said she was ‘clearly’ joking,” PolitiFact concluded in its final ruling.
It added, “But the claim, aside from making no logical sense, came in response to a serious post and had no accompanying context indicating it was meant as some kind of satire. We rate the claim Pants on Fire.”
Thank you, PolitiFact, for not getting satire or social media. Your clueless efforts mean that the republic will live on for another day.
