Opinion

OPINION: Why Aren’t More Comedians Making Fun Of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?

Tina Fey/ Getty Images collage

A.J. Rice CEO of Publius PR
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Eight. That’s the number of times Tina Fey returned to “Saturday Night Live” to systematically destroy then-Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Several of those performances came after Fey made headlines for “retiring” the Palin parody character.

Fey’s impression of Palin was so effective, Palin herself is now best remembered for a line she never said, but Fey did: “I can see Russia from my house!”

Palin’s actual line, which she stated in a 2008 interview with Charlie Gibson of ABC, was in regard to Alaska’s proximity to Russia (from which the United States purchased during the Andrew Johnson administration): “They’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.” Fey weaponized this true statement, and Palin lives Fey’s version down to this day.

The number of times “SNL” has parodied socialist darling New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez since she emerged on the national stage? One.

And that one weak sketch doesn’t even make AOC the target. It’s really a parody of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Ocasio-Cortez, played by “SNL” cast member Melissa Villasenor, is humorless and normal.

Is this the best “SNL” can do? Or have we found a comedic safe space where jokes go to die, lest we awaken the wrath of the woke snowflake mafia?

Since Ocasio-Cortez burst forth as the Democrats’ mascot, she has been a near non-stop gaffe machine. Telling jokes is like boxing; you have to hit people when they are off balance. Ocasio-Cortez lives off balance. So, where are America’s funny people? A million lazy jokes about Donald Trump and not a single witticism left in the chamber?

Just late last week, Ocasio-Cortez tried stalking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. One problem – she pulled a freshman move and went to the wrong office! More than once.

Now imagine Sarah Palin did this. In July 2018, Ocasio-Cortez said, “Unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs.” Huh?

In a November 2018 interview with Jorge Ramos, the freshman rep. supported Bernie Sanders’ massively expensive, $32.6 trillion dollar health care plan. When Ramos asked her how she plans for the country to pay for it, she incredulously said, “You just pay for it.” Excuse me?

In a speech in October 2018, The notorious Democratic-Socialist missed the entire Cold War and War on Terrorism threats to American existence, saying the United States has not faced an existential threat since World War II and that “climate change” is the first existential threat the United States has faced since the Nazis.

Apparently, history begins the day you are born and not a moment sooner.

As if all that wasn’t enough to solidify the New York rep.’s top spot as the zaniest person in American politics, she told viewers of the MLK forum that “the world is gonna end in 12 years” if we don’t address “climate change.” Mash up a Mayan calendar maker and Al Gore and you get America’s progressive “it” girl.

Since arriving in Washington to be the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Representatives, Ocasio-Cortez has become a social media juggernaut. She breathlessly posts Twitter and Instagram videos of every mundane thing that happens in her “Madame Mao Goes To Washington” selfie movie series. There’s a lottery for congressional offices! We have to find places to live! Her new office is just two doors down from where she staged a sit-in! Yay!

It’s all so very darling and amazing, isn’t it? But where the hell are the jokes!? Where are the late night hosts? This ought to be comedy heaven for “SNL,” HBO or Comedy Central.

“SNL” is the show that took a patriotic public servant and gifted collegiate athlete, President Gerald Ford, and turned him into a bumbling idiot who could barely walk.

Ocasio-Cortez is a goldmine for strong writers and comedians who, like early “SNL” political parodies, played the personalities of pols for laughs without much regard for their actual policies. But while the young Democratic Socialist predicts the end of the world, Tina Fey sadly remains silent.

George Carlin once observed that the duty of a comedian is to find where the line is drawn and then cross over it. So far, no takers in 2019. Herd mentality has people paralyzed and lets face it, the writers, performers and hosts of these shows agree with most of AOC’s wacky statements.

Why isn’t Fey or Villasenor playing Cortez for laughs on a weekly basis? From ill-informed comments to her woke beliefs to her slapdash social media movies, AOC provides enough material for both of them. But SNL’s writers are leaving all these potential bits in the joke police’s jail cell.

Apparently, Tina Fey cannot see the Bronx from her House.

A.J. Rice is the CEO of Publius PR. He has produced or promoted Laura Ingraham, David Bossie, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Monica Crowley, Corey Lewandowski, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Steve Hilton, Anthony Scaramucci, Pastor Paula White and many others.  


The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.