Mocking Elected Officials Is a Sign of a Healthy Democracy

There’s little question that President Donald Trump and his MAGA devotees can dish it out. Few things epitomize this populist movement more than its irreverence toward established institutions and its willingness to obliterate traditional standards of civility as it targets political enemies (and erstwhile friends during some internecine squabble). Trump’s social-media posts and statements are filled with invective and merciless mocking.

Trump’s schoolyard taunts rarely are sophisticated, as they frequently zero in on personal appearance. “He’s got the smallest neck I’ve ever seen. And the biggest head. We call him watermelon head. How can that big fat face stand on a neck that looked like this finger?” Trump said about Sen. Adam Schiff (D–Calif.). OK, I laughed when he called him “Adam Schifty Schiff,” but that’s only because it was so childishly stupid. That’s its appeal, I suppose.

One of Trump’s ugliest insults—dating to his first election—was when he mocked a disabled reporter by imitating his hand motions. The Wall Street Journal published a piece called, “The Art of the Insult.” We know this is how Trump operates. You can find hundreds of examples with a Google search or on his Truth Social account. Even the official White House account does this—when it’s not portraying Trump as a Kim Jong Un-style superhero.

It’s so very funny. Whenever anyone calls them out on this, Trump defenders act as if they are just so above it all. “Don’t you know the president is just trolling?” “Get a sense of humor.” “You must be suffering from TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome).” Yadda, yadda. In full disclosure, I greatly value humor and have mocked my share of politicians over the years. But I find bullying taunts to be crass and the sign of those displaying low human capital.

In politics, I prefer Ronald Reagan’s brand of humor, as it was actually funny, incisive, and, well, intelligent. It could be biting: “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.” He reportedly penned that one himself. But his humor often was self-deprecating. After getting criticized for his work ethic, Reagan said: “It’s true that hard work never killed anybody, but I figure why take the chance?”

By contrast, the new Republican standard-bearer cannot bear the slightest criticism. Even a ho-hum taunt brings a furious reaction—sometimes followed by a cease-and-desist letter. Trump takes himself very seriously. I’ve never heard anything from him that’s self-deprecating. Yet self-deprecation is a sign not just of intelligence, but of emotional well-being. Only dictators—real or wannabe—and troubled personalities maintain a veneer of perfection. (“I’m the greatest president ever.”)

“We chose humor as a mechanism through which leaders express their concern for others (vs. the self) because of the potential for humor to be both a weapon to harm others and a tool to build relationships,” according to 2014 research on humor and leadership. Great leaders use humor—especially the self-deprecating variety—as a tool to elevate organizations (and nations), whereas self-centered ones use it to diminish others. You see the parallels.

Recently, a South Park episode shows ”Trump suing the tiny town of South Park when its parents resist ‘anti-woke’ policies, threatening anyone who isn’t sufficiently pro-Trump, and literally getting into bed naked with Satan,” USA Today gently explained. It also showed Trump with a tiny endowment. The cartoon is the epitome of irreverent humor. Its targets are all over the map. It’s not my type of humor, but I chuckle even when it targets my own sacred cows, such as motorcycle riders.

Yet a White House that routinely displays viciousness couldn’t bear being on the receiving end. It called South Park a “fourth-rate” show that is “hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention.” MAGA can be remarkably thin-skinned, the dictionary definition of people who can dish it out but can’t take it. I’m a stickler for applying standards consistently to both sides of the political spectrum, so I’m flummoxed by this lack of self-awareness.

Trump has undertaken a variety of not-so-funny assaults on the media, which, as my Southern California News Group colleague Larry Wilson recently documented, seem designed to quash criticism. Some media outlets have rolled over, but the best response is to keep up the pressure. The South Park producers offered a mock apology for the episode, which seemed like the appropriate response.

In democratic societies, the public is free to ridicule its leaders. But you can’t stop mockery even in unfree ones. Jokes in the Soviet Union could be amazingly clever, as the jokesters had to navigate a world of informants, secret police and humorless apparatchiks. I’d prefer a little more decorum in our political discourse, but since MAGA won’t stop the insults it should get better at taking them.

This column was first published in The Orange County Register.

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