Most of Election 2016 has resembled a Groundhog Day scenario—but if the day we kept repeating became stranger and stranger. Thankfully this never-ending cycle will end tomorrow—yes, tomorrow—but that doesn’t make the journey here any less exhausting. To battle that fatigue, most turned to our common respite when staring into the void of absurdity. We turned to comedy.
No one possibly gave us more fodder for such laughs than Republican presidential Donald J. Trump. He reminded us of characters from both Futurama and The Big Lebowski. Trump influenced Stephen King to write a short story about him and Eminem to rap some freestyle bars.
His family also got in on the fun. Melania Trump was kind enough to grant us an interview. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., dared us to stare into the face of death and wonder if Skittles really could kill you or not. Surprise on that one: They can’t! Then we all remembered how fun Skittles were again.
Not content to let the Trumps have all the fun, Hillary Clinton found ways both intentional and not to make us laugh. She allowed Zach Galifianakis ask her how it’d feel to be the first “girl” president. Let’s not forget her inspiring supporters to organize a “pantsuit power” flash mob. She also admitted to The Breakfast Club radio show that Death Row Records inspired her fashion for the debates.
https://twitter.com/double_cupp_me/status/789088080426831872
Oh the debates. Who could forget those debates (as much as we may want to). Unsurprisingly, Saturday Night Live loved the debates for the parody possibilities. Alec Baldwin debuted his Trump impression to rave reviews and continued to exploit his character through hot mic fiascos and battling sexual assault accusers. Tom Hanks also enjoyed getting in on the joke as “sweet, lil baby Trump” tried to rehabilitate his image.
The cast and writers at SNL weren’t the only one to enjoy poking fun during the debates. How else did you expect the rest of us to get through it? We gave you some tips to survive the debates, but leave it to the internet to construct more imaginative ways to cope.
While the first debate inspired everyone to plaster Snapchat filters on the candidates, the second debate featured Trump-Clinton karaoke jams and inspired classic film composer Danny Elfman to score a new film he made called “TRUMP STALKS HILLARY.” And who could forget our friend and comedian Weird Al Yankovic providing an auto-tune spoof?
I'm too good to you
I'm way too good to you
You take my love for granted
I just don't understand it pic.twitter.com/iZkWcHXHMO— Desus MF Nice💯 (@desusnice) October 10, 2016
HILLARY: i told you he'd fuck the chair
TRUMP: *while fucking the chair* I never fucked the chair pic.twitter.com/QACRSry4SG— 현춘이 (@ughHugs) October 10, 2016
Taking a break from the candidates, let’s not overlook the supporting acts of this election. Like that woman who drew peanut butter penises on 30 cars outside a Trump rally. Or the “nasty women.” Or #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner (which Hillary thought “sounded absolutely delicious”). Or Ken Bone becoming an internet meme, exclusively sharing his diary with us, but then becoming not so fun when we learned he’s kind of a weird creep.
Sometimes though, Trump and Clinton found ways to agree. They both enjoy posing with dogs and love ice cream (which is apparently a huge presidential obsession!). Speaking of which, it might help to see which candidate’s foodie choices you align with. And, yes, we’re still not over them both firing shots at puppets.
However, it will all be over soon. This Groundhog Day nightmare will not perpetuate infinitely. Tomorrow, one way or another, it will end. Hopefully we’ll find some more ways to laugh about it then, too.
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