News Satire Roundup: October 7th-October 11th

Sunday, October 7 – Most of the “quick recap from the week,” naturally, was on Kavanaugh’s confirmation.  Lowlights included Trump talking about what a “scary time” it is for men and Mitch McConnell deriding the Democrats’ attempted “obstruction” of the confirmation, which John juxtaposed with a clip of him crowing about how one of his “proudest” moments was blocking Merrick Garland’s nomination.  The main story was on Brazil’s elections.  Every time a would-be world leader is referred to as “the Trump of _________,” I feel a little more nauseated; I wasn’t very familiar with Jair Bolsonaro, but John did a good job acquainting me with his terribleness, from his plan to reduce crime by arming more Brazilians to telling a female colleague (on camera!) that she wasn’t “worth” raping to espousing disturbing views about LGTBQ folks.  Why do we see this same story echoing in so many countries?

Tuesday, October 9 – Opening blurbs on climate change (I loved the joke about Marvel having a better long-term plan than planet Earth,) the Banksy painting that got shredded at auction (just so you know, Trevor is totally not Banksy,) and Melania Trump in Africa (fun bit with Trevor imagining her picking up the accent.)  Next up was Kavanaugh’s confirmation and the subsequent victory lap from the GOP.  Trump apologizing for Kavanaugh on TV for his “pain and suffering” and declaring that the FBI investigation “proved him innocent” was obscene.  Good story on celebrity political endorsements, touching on Kanye West as the official “rapper of the alt-right” and Taylor Swift speaking about her views on social media.  The guest, writer Mark Leibovitch, discussed his new book on the NFL; the clash he described between mostly-Black players and mostly-white fans/owners was interesting.

Wednesday, October 10 – Good bit on how hurricanes need scarier names to make people take them seriously, and I loved the joke that teenagers trick-or-treating without costumes is really just a “soft robbery.”  After a quick blurb on a woman and her “emotional-support squirrel” getting kicked off a plane, we looked at Nikki Haley’s exit as UN ambassador, from Trump grossly saying she made the position more “glamorous” to a montage of how Haley fit Trump’s vision of an ideal UN ambassador, picking fights with other countries and essentially vowing to take names and hold grudes.  Next up was the Georgia governor race, with Roy reporting on Stacey Abrams’s chances.  I’d seen incumbent Nathan Deal’s ads about driving a pickup in case he needs to round up “criminal illegals” before, and they’re still awful.  John Cena was the guest, pumping up the crowd before talking about his foray into writing a children’s book.

Thursday, October 11 – We opened on Kanye West’s bizarre sit-down at the Oval Office,   saying among other things that Hillary Clinton didn’t make him feel like “a guy who could play catch with his son”(?)  We also had amusing bits on a solar-powered drug tunnel across the border and Melania Trump declaring herself “the most bullied person in the world.”  New correspondent Jaboukie was great in his first piece, schooling “vintage millennial” Trevor on why young people aren’t excited to vote.  Good story on fearmongering about “leftist mobs” (i.e. protesters) endangering senators; I loved how Trevor pointed out that, by getting up in arms over the “when they go low, we kick ‘em” comment, Fox News is just admitting that they’re going low.  I liked the interview with Nicole Chung; I’ve recently read a couple articles about her memoir on her transracial adoption, and I think she has a lot of excellent stuff to say.