It’s astounding how differently scandals involving Republicans and Democrats are treated in the late-night talk show scene. While the recent guilty verdict against Hunter Biden did warrant a mention on all five late-night comedy shows yesterday, one can’t help but notice the stark contrast in how the verdict was handled as compared to those involving figures from the right wing.
Stephen Colbert on The Late Show relayed the guilty verdict with an air of understanding and consistency, acknowledging that if Trump’s conviction was impactful, so too was Hunter Biden’s. Colbert was surprisingly fair in his stance, though he couldn’t resist taking a dig at the Trump family in comparison to the Bidens.
On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel fancied himself a humourist, poking fun at President Biden’s inability to “rig” the outcome for his son, and sarcastically suggesting that Hunter is just a few felonies away from being perfectly suited to run as a Republican candidate. After reading out President Biden’s heartfelt statement of standing by his son, Kimmel insinuated Trump would do the same for Eric, maybe even in a similar situation.
Seth Meyers on Late Night leaned into the mockery, using Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict to poke fun at Trump and Fox News’s Sean Hannity. He also threw in a jab at the cost of First Lady Jill Biden’s round trip flight to attend her son’s trial, suggesting Trump would have never done the same for his own children.
On Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Jordan Klepper only mildly addressed Hunter’s shady past, opting to focus more on the surprise of America actually enforcing gun laws and accusing Republicans of hypocrisy.
Finally, over at The Tonight Show on NBC, Jimmy Fallon imitated Trump’s voice and mockingly commend our legal system for its evident fairness and justice, making light of Hunter’s guilt.
What’s striking is that, while these hosts relished in uncovering every sordid detail in the Trump family trials, they seemed to approach Hunter’s guilty verdict with an almost begrudging sense of obligation. Late-night television demonstrates, once again, that even scandals involving Democrats are turned into opportunities to strike at Republicans. The ratio of jokes isn’t even close to being balanced—it heavily favors targeting conservatives. The transcripted shows’ content further underlines this unrelenting and profound bias.
