Latest news with #JonLovett
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former Obama Speechwriter Jon Lovett on How Trump Is Funny Like a 'Clown With a Gun'
Donald Trump may not like being a punchline and seemingly never laughs, but he has a funny bone behind his frowns and scowls. Just ask Obama speechwriter and self-described comedian Jon Lovett. 'Trump's very funny. When he says Merry Christmas to all the haters and losers, that's funny. He's funny,' Lovett tells The Hollywood Reporter from the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'In the Land of Arto': Camille Cottin, Zar Amir Ebrahimi Journey Into Armenia and Its Past (Exclusive Clips) Why Stand-up Legend George Wallace Can't Get Off the Stage After 49 Years in Comedy: "I'm Living My Dream" Oasis Play Wembley: 5 Takeaways From Liam and Noel Gallagher's Nostalgia-Packed Return to Stage Sure, the U.S. president has laid ruin to U.S. politics since returning to the White House. 'Trump is a vandal. He's doing vandalism to our country,' Lovett insists. But he can't ignore Trump's surprise comedy chops behind that lower lip pout or when he shows open anger. 'When he steamrolls in an interview, or when he's on stage, he's doing his version of crowd work with his MAGA base. So I do think he's funny. That's part of his skill,' Lovett argues. He took to the stage in Montreal for a live presentation of his Lovett or Leave It podcast, with Gianmarco Soresi, Roy Wood Jr., Mary Beth Barone and Zach Zucker as guests. And while Trump's no stand-up, Lovett insists 'he's got a cruel sense of humor, and it works at times. He has a great sense for television. He knows what's going to play well. And he knows when what's happening is silly or ridiculous, and he knows when he needs to be on the outside of it, with the audience watching it.' 'We can pretend otherwise, but we do so at our peril,' he added. For Lovett, as a host of the Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It podcasts from Crooked Media, doing audio content allows him to fulfill all his creative interests and goals. 'It's writing. It's performing. It's politics. It's comedy. And I get to do all of them,' he explains. All of which is an unconventional route to stand-up for Lovett. 'I didn't do open mikes out of college, my path to telling jokes on stage wasn't the traditional one. I always feel a little bit of an outsider in the comedy world,' he admits. And Lovett points to the challenge of making comedy amid Trump's world of distractions and political division. 'It'll be hard to describe to future generations how stupid and dangerous politics in American have become,' he explains. One solution is to use comedy as opposition to Trump, including the Democratic Party, and become happy warriors, because the serious part of politics is exhausting, embarrassing and causes unending anxiety. 'We have to stay invested, and that's going to be a mix of seriousness when it's called for, but also a willingness to make fun of thse people for being fools like Trump is a clown with a gun. The gun doesn't change the fact that he's a clown, and the fact that he's a clown doesn't change the fact he's holding a gun,' Lovett insists. The Just For Laughs comedy festival continues through Sunday. Best of The Hollywood Reporter From 'Party in the U.S.A.' to 'Born in the U.S.A.': 20 of America's Most Patriotic (and Un-Patriotic) Musical Offerings Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Obama aides brutally mock Hunter Biden 'playing the victim' in tirade against Democratic elite
Former Obama aides ripped Hunter Biden on Monday for his "sense of entitlement" after the former president's son lashed out at them and other Democratic "elites" in a new interview. Tommy Vietor, Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett, hosts of "Pod Save America" and former staffers to former President Barack Obama, responded to Hunter's fiery tirade, in which he blamed Obama White House officials and other Democratic leaders for pushing his father, Joe Biden, out of the 2024 presidential race exactly one year ago. In the Monday interview with YouTube personality Andrew Callaghan, Hunter derided the "Pod Save America" team as "junior f---ing speechwriters" who "have been dining out on the relationship with him for years, making millions of dollars." The ex-Obama aides responded, brutally mocking Hunter Biden as a hypocrite who had no right to criticize. "You know, it must be just so hard for Hunter Biden to watch all these people dining out on somebody's name," Lovett said sarcastically. "Mostly it is three hours of Hunter playing the victim," Vietor said of the interview. "And he rages at us, and he rages at [David] Axelrod and [George] Clooney, but the problem was the voters, and they never addressed that. The voters thought Joe Biden was too old." "You were on the board of Burisma because of who your dad is," he said of Hunter. "And that is what people hate about Washington." In the three-hour interview, Hunter Biden also attacked actor George Clooney, Democratic strategist James Carville, CNN commentator David Axelrod and CNN host Jake Tapper, while praising his father for giving "52 years of his f---ing life" to his political career. The "Pod Save America" hosts were disgusted by the remarks, saying it showed the Biden family's "sense of entitlement." "It's just this sense of entitlement from Biden, from his family, from the inner circle that he was like owed the presidency, owed a second term. It's just very f---ing grating," Vietor responded. "You were a liability," Lovett added. "You should be ashamed of the ways in which you made your father's political life worse. And like the idea that we're going to listen to you now, like, give me a f---ing break. It's ridiculous." The podcast hosts have been critical of Biden's inner circle for encouraging him to run for re-election, arguing that poll after poll showed that Americans believed he was too old to run for a second term. Days after the election, Favreau called Biden's decision to run for a second term a "catastrophic mistake" brought on by the then-president and his staff's hubris. "Joe Biden's decision to run for president again was a catastrophic mistake. It just was. He and his inner circle, they refused to believe the polls, they refused to believe he was unpopular, they refused to acknowledge until very late that anyone could be upset about inflation," Favreau said.
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Former White House aide finally ADMITS to Biden health decline cover-up because he 'wanted him to f*****g win'
A Former White House aide has admitted he deliberately concealed his concerns over Joe Biden 's declining health during the 2024 presidential campaign because he desperately 'wanted him to f*****g win' re-election. Jon Lovett, an ex-Obama administration speechwriter and co-host of the popular liberal podcast 'Pod Save America', made the shocking confession during an appearance on Jon Stewart 's 'The Weekly Show' podcast. The 42-year-old political commentator told Stewart and his fellow Pod Save America host Jon Favreau that he chose to keep his worries about Biden's physical and mental condition to himself rather than share them publicly with his audience. 'I remember feeling I want to talk about this as a huge liability. To talk about this is something Joe Biden can overcome, but I'm not going to go so far as to say, 'I think Joe Biden must drop out. He is too old to be president,' Lovett said on the podcast. 'A, because I didn't know exactly what was going on behind the scenes, but B, if Joe Biden is the candidate, I want him to f****** win.' Lovett, who served as a speechwriter in the Obama White House from 2009 to 2011, claimed he was terrified that voicing his genuine concerns would give Republican opponents an upper hand. He was afraid 'having the words we're saying taken out of context and all of a sudden be part of the case against Joe Biden from the right - that would use any person criticizing Joe Biden from the left as a weapon against him.' 'So it was about being honest about Joe Biden's age as a liability while knowing that if he is the nominee, I want to be clear that I thought it was important to make sure we did everything we could to reelect him,' Lovett claimed. The 42-year-old political commentator told Stewart and his fellow Pod Save America host Jon Favreau that he chose to keep his worries about Biden's physical and mental condition to himself rather than share them publicly with his audience This comes as medical experts have declared it 'inconceivable' that former President Joe Biden's 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer was not caught earlier by doctors. The 82-year-old's office announced the devastating diagnosis last Sunday, saying the cancer had spread to his bones and his family were reviewing treatment options. His cancer was given a Gleason score of 9 and a Grade Group of 5, a dire stage of the rapidly-spreading disease. The diagnosis came days after doctors found a 'small nodule' on his prostate. Many officials expressed heartfelt concern for the former president, with Donald Trump saying that he and First Lady Melania wished Biden 'a fast and successful recovery.' Donald Trump Jr appeared to break the political truce just hours after the announcement. He questioned if there was a 'coverup' by sharing a screengrab of a post from physician Dr. Steven Quay, who called prostate cancer 'the easiest cancer to diagnose when it first starts and to watch it progress to bone metastases.' Upon hearing the news, some of America's top doctors also questioned how a former president could be diagnosed with late stage prostate cancer - which can be detected early with routine bloodwork recommended for all men over the age of 50. 'It is inconceivable that this was not being followed before he left the Presidency,' wrote Dr. Howie Forman, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging, public health management and economics at Yale. He noted that the test for prostate-specific antigen would have shown he had cancer 'for some time before this diagnosis', given how aggressive it is. In February 2024, when Biden was the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, his longtime physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor deemed him 'fit to serve' following a routine physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Dr. Forman noted that Biden 'must have had a PSA test numerous times before' and concluded the late-stage diagnosis is 'odd.' In a follow-up post, the doctor questioned whether Biden had been through screening in the last 12 years and if he 'had a normal PSA prior to [age] 70?' 'It's just so odd to discover this with bone [metastasis] in a man of his stature and [with his] access to care,' Forman concluded.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-Obama aide admits he held back on criticizing Biden's decline because he 'wanted him to f------ win'
Ex-Obama aide and "Pod Save America" co-host Jon Lovett admitted on Jon Stewart's "The Weekly Show" podcast that he withheld his concerns about President Joe Biden's physical decline during the 2024 campaign. Lovett told Stewart and his fellow "Pod Save America" host Jon Favreau that he didn't want to publicly voice his concern over Biden's declining health because he wanted him "to f------ win." "I remember feeling I want to talk about this as a huge liability. To talk about this is something Joe Biden can overcome, but I'm not going to go so far as to say, 'I think Joe Biden must drop out. He is too old to be president,'" Lovett said on the podcast. "A, because I didn't know exactly what was going on behind the scenes, but B, if Joe Biden is the candidate, I want him to f------ win." Jon Stewart, 'Pod Save America' Question Biden's Health In Wake Of 'Original Sin' Book Lovett said he was worried that expressing his concerns would be weaponized against Biden by political opponents. He claimed he kept his concerns to himself to avoid "having the words we're saying taken out of context and all of a sudden be part of the case against Joe Biden from the right — that would use any person criticizing Joe Biden from the left as a weapon against him." Read On The Fox News App "So it was about being honest about Joe Biden's age as a liability while knowing that if he is the nominee, I want to be clear that I thought it was important to make sure we did everything we could to reelect him," Lovett claimed. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson have recently drawn attention to Biden's health while promoting their new book, "Original Sin," which covered the former president's decline and the alleged cover-up by his administration to keep it under wraps. Lovett is featured in "Original Sin" in an anecdote where he and his "Pod Save America" co-hosts Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer met with Biden at the White House on April 26, 2024. The book described them as "deeply disturbed" after their discussions with Biden that night, with the authors describing the president as rambling and "incoherent." Fox News' Rachel del Guidice contributed to this article source: Ex-Obama aide admits he held back on criticizing Biden's decline because he 'wanted him to f------ win'
Fox News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Ex-Obama aide admits he held back on criticizing Biden's decline because he 'wanted him to f------ win'
Print Close By Marc Tamasco Published May 24, 2025 Ex-Obama aide and "Pod Save America" co-host Jon Lovett admitted on Jon Stewart's "The Weekly Show" podcast that he withheld his concerns about President Joe Biden's physical decline during the 2024 campaign. Lovett told Stewart and his fellow "Pod Save America" host Jon Favreau that he didn't want to publicly voice his concern over Biden's declining health because he wanted him "to f------ win." "I remember feeling I want to talk about this as a huge liability. To talk about this is something Joe Biden can overcome, but I'm not going to go so far as to say, 'I think Joe Biden must drop out. He is too old to be president,'" Lovett said on the podcast. "A, because I didn't know exactly what was going on behind the scenes, but B, if Joe Biden is the candidate, I want him to f------ win." JON STEWART, 'POD SAVE AMERICA' QUESTION BIDEN'S HEALTH IN WAKE OF 'ORIGINAL SIN' BOOK Lovett said he was worried that expressing his concerns would be weaponized against Biden by political opponents. He claimed he kept his concerns to himself to avoid "having the words we're saying taken out of context and all of a sudden be part of the case against Joe Biden from the right — that would use any person criticizing Joe Biden from the left as a weapon against him." "So it was about being honest about Joe Biden's age as a liability while knowing that if he is the nominee, I want to be clear that I thought it was important to make sure we did everything we could to reelect him," Lovett claimed. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson have recently drawn attention to Biden's health while promoting their new book, "Original Sin," which covered the former president's decline and the alleged cover-up by his administration to keep it under wraps. Lovett is featured in "Original Sin" in an anecdote where he and his "Pod Save America" co-hosts Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer met with Biden at the White House on April 26, 2024. The book described them as "deeply disturbed" after their discussions with Biden that night, with the authors describing the president as rambling and "incoherent." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News' Rachel del Guidice contributed to this report. Print Close URL
