President Donald Trump impressionist Matt Friend believes that Trump could be a really funny person if he wasn’t so busy trying to rip everyone apart over the slightest criticism.
“My feeling on Trump is, at least according to what [comedian] Bill Maher has said about him and what everybody has said about him, is that the guy is hilarious when you’re in person,” Friend told host Joanna Coles on The Daily Beast Podcast.
However, Friend and Coles agreed that a sense of humor rarely publicly rears its head in Trumpland when the MAGA figurehead is the butt of jokes.
Friend pointed out that, unfortunately for Trump, he is the “main character of the world right now,” which means he’s going to be consistently name-dropped in late-night monologues.
In July, Trump celebrated the demise of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in a Truth Social post rubbing salt in Colbert’s wounds.
“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump said of the late-night host, who has been one of the president’s staunchest critics. Trump added, “His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
CBS announced that it was ending The Late Show three days after Colbert criticized a settlement between Trump and CBS parent company Paramount Global over the editing of a 60 Minutes story. The firing also came as the Trump administration approved Paramount’s $8.4 billion deal to merge with Skydance Media—which led comedians and politicos alike to decry the end of comedy under MAGA’s reign.
However, Trump insisted that Colbert’s booting wasn’t all his fault, writing in a subsequent Truth Social post that Colbert became “a victim to himself.”
The real problem, according to Friend, is that Trump can’t take a joke.
“He doesn’t like people threatening him or making fun of him, which is just such a weird, balance,” Friend explained. “Seth MacFarlane described how great Trump was at [his] Comedy Central roast, and now he’s like a different person. So it is a weird thing. There’s a weird shift, if that is the case.”
Friend added, “It also is crazy that he still cares because he doesn’t have to run again. He has nothing left to prove.”
Still, Friend admits that Trump’s temper tantrums have been comedic gold for his career as an impressionist and stand-up comic.
“Candidly, right now, nothing will ever compare to the level of absurdity, and comedic… positives of having Trump in the Oval Office or just in the culture because… it’s so crazy what he’s doing or what he’s saying that the material literally writes itself,” said Friend, who explained that he uses his Trump impression to say things “that I cannot say as myself.”
Friend added, “I didn’t say it. Trump said it. So it’s completely fine.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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