Comedy is a powerful tool in politics, used to engage audiences and make complex issues more relatable. But in this long history, President Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday night was remarkably different.
I have reviewed in depth the last 30 presidential addresses to joint sessions of Congress for their use of humor and found major shifts in how Trump’s speech used humor and comedy.
Trump’s rhetorical style in this week’s joint address blended dire warnings about life in America with a strikingly high number of jokes. He made jabs at Democrats, sarcastic comments on the economy and foreign policy and self-aggrandizing remarks about his accomplishments.
While humor has been present in Trump’s prior speeches, Tuesday night’s address underscored a distinct contrast: Despite framing the current state of the nation as one of unprecedented crisis, he injected humor at a rate far exceeding not only his own history but also that of other past presidents, especially those facing national emergencies.
In total, Trump made 21 obvious jokes throughout his speech, compared to 24 jokes across all four addresses he gave in his first term. He made 2.2 jokes per thousand words, the highest rate of any president in the last 29 years. He doubled his own previous record from his first term, in which he averaged 1.1 jokes per thousand words.
This contrast between Trump’s message and his comedic approach raises questions about the seriousness of his dire warnings. His speech painted a grim picture of the nation’s present course, warning that “Over the past four years, 21 million people poured into the United States — many of them were murderers, human traffickers, gang members and other criminals from the streets of dangerous cities all throughout the world.”
Despite this portrayal, he found ample space for humor; referring to a bill to fund deportation efforts he quipped, “I’ll sign it so fast you won’t even believe it.” His levity is at odds with past presidential behavior during national crises. In President George W. Bush’s 2002 State of the Union, just months after 9/11, there were only three attempted jokes, and in President Obama’s 2009 address during the height of that era’s financial crisis, there were only six.
Biden’s 2021 address, while the country was still in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, included just eight jokes. Historically, when times are truly dire, presidents forgo humor in favor of solemnity and resolve. The fact that Trump delivered his most humor-packed joint address to Congress while simultaneously warning of an existential crisis suggests that either his warnings are exaggerated, or he does not feel the weight of the moment in the way he claims.
What also stood out was the prevalence of unabashed insults within Trump’s jokes. A whopping 23.8 percent of his humorous statements came at Democrats’ expense. For example, when discussing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the newly-confirmed head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump joked, “With the name Kennedy, you would have thought everybody over here [pointing at the Democrats] would be cheering. How quickly they forget.”
Trump’s confidence was evident in his willingness to mock opponents more directly than ever, suggesting that he sees little risk in alienating those who do not already support him. One of his sharpest barbs came when he referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as “Pocahontas,” while Warren sarcastically applauded. Where past presidents have used broad jokes in an effort to unify other politicians around their goals, Trump’s jokes communicated a lack of interest in such a strategy.
A third major difference between Trump’s joint address and past State of the Unions was in the reception of Trump’s humor. It reflected an increasingly partisan audience, in which the chasm between supporters and detractors was vast. Nearly all — 90.5 percent — of Trump’s attempts at humor were met with laughter from Republicans. Not one drew a positive reaction from Democrats.
One of his biggest laugh lines came when he joked, “I just happened to go [to Butler County, Pa.] last July 13 for a rally. And that was not pleasant.” This drew laughter from Republicans, but Democrats remained stone-faced. This skewed response marks a departure from past addresses, where the overall laugh rate was much lower (61.4 percent) but laughter rose more frequently from both sides of the aisle.
In fact, Trump’s line that got the broadest laughs was not an attempt at humor at all, it was his claim that the “days of rule by unelected bureaucrats is over” juxtaposed on video with billionaire Elon Musk in the gallery, who appears to wielding great power at the Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump’s humor played directly to his base rather than attempting to win over skeptics. The laughter in the chamber served as an epitome of the consistent Republican adherence to Trump’s policy goals and the country’s broader political climate — one in which humor has become a partisan weapon, reinforcing the ideological divide rather than bridging it.
Trump’s joint address to Congress was a study in contradictions: It was a speech filled with warnings of impending doom, yet packed with jokes. It was a moment of supposed crisis, delivered with a tone of confidence. It was a national address that deepened the partisan divide.
Trump’s use of humor, more aggressive and more frequent than ever, will likely energize his supporters but further alienate everyone else. If the president makes a joke, what does it say about our future if only half the country laughs?
Max Kesselheim is a student at the Roxbury Latin School in Boston.