By Rose Cohen ’22
Staff Writer
After President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joseph R. Biden Jr. went head-to-head during the Sept. 29 disorderly debate in Cleveland, Ohio, late night hosts satirized several key moments. They mocked “Fox News Sunday” anchor and debate moderator Chris Wallace who repeatedly wrestled with stopping Trump from interrupting Biden. They ridiculed Trump’s blatant refusal to condemn white supremacists. They emphasized that fact checkers should alert viewers about candidates spewing misinformation.
Late Night vs. Wallace
“The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon compared Wallace to a kindergarten teacher attempting to run a class on Zoom.
On “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” host Jimmy Kimmel jested, “Trump treated Chris Wallace like he was Eric [Trump] asking for more allowance money. You know things are getting heated when the moderator pleads, ‘Please, gentlemen, let’s return to the topic of race.’”
During a monologue on “The Daily Show,” host Trevor Noah thanked Wallace for his service. “I hope that you have a lot of money for your therapy,” Noah said, addressing Wallace. “You made a valiant effort, but you were not ready for this, because no human being could’ve been ready for this.”
“The Late Show” frontman Stephen Colbert poked fun at Wallace’s question about why Trump holds big rallies and Biden favors much smaller events. Colbert chided, “We already know the big rallies are bad, Chris. This is like asking, ‘Mr. President, you’re tying ladies to the railroad tracks as the choo-choo train approaches. Mr. Biden, why did you go with the strategy of not killing your supporters?’”
On Trump Rejecting the Opportunity to Denounce Far-Right Hate Groups
During the debate, Wallace asked Trump if he was willing to decry white supremacists and militia groups. In response, Trump told the Proud Boys, an extremist organization that has been called “misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration” by the Anti-Defamation League, to “stand back and stand by.”
Colbert called Trump’s answer one of the most upsetting moments of his lifetime. With both of his pointer fingers in the air, Colbert then parodied the president. “I don’t support white supremacists. I just command them like a dog. That’s why I’ve got this shiny dog whistle. Proud Boys! Proud Boys! Stand back! Sit! Who’s a proud boy? You’re a proud boy!”
“Yeah, it’s not good when you ask the President if he’ll condemn white supremacy, and the ‘Jeopardy!’ music starts playing in his head while he thinks it over,” Fallon quipped.
Noah also commented on Trump’s frantic performance, exclaiming, “I can’t believe how hard his brain malfunctioned when they asked him to denounce white supremacists.”
The Fight for Live Fact-Checking
Prior to the debate, the co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., told CNN that the nonprofit corporation does not require their moderators, including Wallace, to act as fact checkers. In a Fox News interview, Wallace had stated that he wanted to try to be invisible during the upcoming debate. Noah and Colbert both brought up the importance of fact-checking in their monologues.
“Guys, debates need fact checkers, because otherwise, people can just stand on the stage and say whatever they want,” Noah said. “And there are no consequences — zero, nada, zilch. Every time a candidate says a lie, there should be some sort of, like, sign that they lied. Like, maybe a brick should come down on their side of the screen, you know, like ‘Tetris.’”
“Ultimately, I think the American people — they were hurt tonight,” Colbert said. “And if you look online, they’re angry. Because this is a serious moment where human lives and the future of this irreplaceable country is on the line. And I know that Chris Wallace says he’s not a fact checker. But after one-and-a-half hours of chaos and lies, I can say there’s one statement tonight that was absolutely true.” The statement in question? A moment during the debate when Trump said, “This is not going to end well.”