Washington Examiner Senior Writer Joe Concha dismissed concerns from comedian Nikki Glaser that she is “scared” to talk about politics in her stand-up sets.
Glaser attended the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, where a number of comedians took shots at the president. She told reporters, “I’m at the point now that if I don’t say something political, it’s because I’m scared to.” The comedian has already poked fun at the celebrities who supported former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump.
“Nobody’s going to lock up Nikki Glazer over making a trump about Donald Trump. This is 31 flavors of delusion. Because Donald Trump was president for four years from 2017-2021, and no comedian went to jail or was detained, neither was any sort of journalist in this regard,” Concha said on Fox Business’s Varney & Co Wednesday. “Remember Kathy Griffin actually held up the likeness of Donald Trump? Did anything happen to her? Nothing happened.”
Concha was referring to the fellow comedian who posted a photo of herself holding up a mock bloodied and severed head of Trump while he was in office the first time. Griffin underwent a Secret Service investigation that was sparked by the controversial photo shoot. Two months after the photo became public in May 2017, she was exonerated. Glaser was clear to reporters that her hesitation is “not because I’m like, I don’t think I have a right to do that.”
“The First Amendment has never been more alive and well. Donald Trump has taken thousands of questions from reporters since taking office just nine weeks ago. He’s the most successful president that we have ever seen,” Concha went on. “Meanwhile, if you want to write an anti-Trump book about Trump or you want a media that obviously is very much anti-Trump, nobody is stopping them from doing that at this point. So when Nikki Glaser says, ‘I’m afraid to make a joke,’ I can guarantee you she’ll be making Donald Trump jokes by this weekend.”
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Opponents of the Trump administration made long-shot accusations of First Amendment violations. For example, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) came to the defense of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil is a green card holder who made headlines for over-participation in several anti-Israel protests in which Hamas propaganda was distributed. While Schumer claimed to “abhor” Khalil’s opinions and polices, he accused the Trump administration of violating the First Amendment by ordering ICE to detain him and revoke his green card.
The Trump administration has made several attempts to increase accessibility compared to the Biden administration. The Department of Government Efficiency has its own X account that posts several times a day. Meanwhile, the White House Press Briefings are opening up to smaller outlets, reserving a rotating seat in the front row for reporters that weren’t traditionally present.