How Kamala Harris's Campaign is Leaning Into Comedy | Pivot

1. KSKara Swisher0:00

   The United Auto Workers Union is filing charges against former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk after their conversation on X. During the chat, Trump praised Musk for his anti-union stances, calling him the cutter. I don't know how he came up with that. While Trump and Elon have boasted the conversation reached, quote, "A billion users," X has not disclosed any monetary information or ad buys surrounding the arrangement with the Trump campaign. I mean, the X space started out about 45 minutes late, for people who don't know, due to technical difficulties, which Musk blamed on an attack. The Harris campaign wasted no time in making fun of the situation and putting out a statement saying, "Trump's entire campaign is in the service of people like Elon Musk and himself, self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a live stream in the year 2024." Um, also, the campaign, which is doing really well, has put out a statement, I don't know who's doing their social media, saying it's been zero days since JD Vance insulted women across the country.

2. MBMike Birbiglia0:53

   (laughs)

3. KSKara Swisher0:54

   So, talk about the- the Harris campaign is funny. Wh- wh-

4. MBMike Birbiglia0:57

   They're funny.

5. KSKara Swisher0:58

   What do you think about their humor? Does it land?

6. MBMike Birbiglia1:01

   I think- I think it's... No, I think it's- it's riding the right line, um-

7. KSKara Swisher1:05

   Tell me how.

8. MBMike Birbiglia1:06

   So, I- I think in comedy, it- typically a joke has a setup and a punchline. And- and the setup is something that we all agree to be true, and the punchline is a left turn that we don't see coming. And I think the problem with political comedy, in everything year 2016 on, is that we don't all agree on what is true. And so- so in other words, if there are no setups, there can be no punchlines. Or- or I should say, it's very hard to come by a punchline. So, I think that the wrong move comedically with- with the Trump folks is to say things that the liberal media, which they believe is liberal and- and biased and is not giving them the truth about Donald Trump, um, is, uh, they- they don't buy it-

9. KSKara Swisher1:57

   Right.

10. MBMike Birbiglia1:57

    ... and so it can't be a setup, right? So- so in other words, like if you bring up the lawsuits a lot, they'll go, "Well, that's just a hit job. The lawsuits are a hit job," whatever. And ............................ Right. However, I just think there's a few vulnerabilities in the Trump universe, which is, we all know he inherited $400 million, right?

11. KSKara Swisher2:20

    Right.

12. MBMike Birbiglia2:21

    Um, we all- we all saw with our own eyes that there were tech glitches in the Zoom thing or, you know, whatever the- the Elon thing is. Uh, Twitter, the X thing. And so as much as it- as- as- as Kamala's team can play in the moment with things that we all can see with our own eyes, I think that's gonna be a winning strategy. I think the other thing is, we can't... Like, I think you cannot make fun of Trump's voters because, you know, you have family who are Trump voters, I have family who are-

13. KSKara Swisher2:55

    They have no sense of humor is my impression.

14. MBMike Birbiglia2:58

    Well, yeah, I mean, no- no sense of humor is one thing, but the other thing is they're smart. My dad's a doctor who has a law degree. He's not unintelligent. So, if you just insult his- him over and over again, I- I- you're not gonna get anywhere. If you look at all the- the zingers, the famous zingers in history in the debates, it's these really light touches. It's like- it's like that Bush-Gore moment where Gore walks too close to Bush Jr., and then- and then Bush sort of steps away, and you kind of go like, "I know what he means."

15. KSKara Swisher3:32

    Right, right.

16. MBMike Birbiglia3:33

    That's- that's- that's a human moment.

17. KSKara Swisher3:35

    Right.

18. MBMike Birbiglia3:35

    And-

19. KSKara Swisher3:35

    Or- or, I don't want to take advantage of my age, Reagan was quite good at it, actually.

20. MBMike Birbiglia3:39

    Yes, there you go again, the Reagan line.

21. KSKara Swisher3:42

    Yeah.

22. MBMike Birbiglia3:42

    And it's like... And- and I think as much as Kamala can be in the moment 'cause she's extraordinarily funny, she's extraordinarily... I mean, her laugh is infectious. I mean, it's hilarious that Trump has gone after her laugh because you go, "No, no, you moron." People like when people laugh.

23. KSKara Swisher4:01

    They do.

24. MBMike Birbiglia4:01

    It's endearing.

25. KSKara Swisher4:03

    She's turned it around 'cause they- they... For a while, they were sort of pointing to something. It was a little out, you know, it was more... It was a- it was a laughier laugh than other laughs, right? But she's turned it, they've turned it into something lovely, actually, which I think is interesting.

26. MBMike Birbiglia4:16

    Yeah, I think... I mean, I think they're on the right path. I think- I think the, uh, the key is, I think there's like a famous line about dealing with hecklers, which is the best thing you can do with a heckler is respond honestly in the moment.

27. KSKara Swisher4:31

    Yeah, right.

28. MBMike Birbiglia4:31

    And I think that-

29. KSKara Swisher4:31

    She did that. Did you see her do that?

30. MBMike Birbiglia4:33

    And she's good at it. Yeah.

Episode duration: 6:34