AMAC Exclusive – By Seamus Brennan
Despite the many political twists and turns of this year—including a contentious midterm election cycle, a series of Biden administration-induced crises, and a handful of momentous Supreme Court decisions—most Americans, right or left, can likely agree that 2022 had no shortage of laughs. As the year draws to a close, there is no better time to look back on 10 of the funniest political moments of 2022.
Biden Reading Teleprompter Instructions
Though 2022 was brimming with Biden gaffes, few were as comical as the moment he repeated aloud instructions loaded into his teleprompter. “It is noteworthy that the percentage of women who register to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so—end of quote. Repeat the line,” Biden said in a July speech, clearly not recognizing the instructions were simply meant to serve as unread cues. Many—including Elon Musk—were quick to compare the Biden gaffe to a scene in the classic 2004 comedy Anchorman, in which the film’s protagonist reads an obvious error that was loaded into a teleprompter.
Kamala Harris Gushing About Venn Diagrams
Two years in, Kamala Harris’s abysmal public speaking abilities are no secret. In a particularly cringeworthy episode this year, Harris spent several moments gushing about her supposed love for Venn diagrams. “I love Venn diagrams,” Harris said in a set of October remarks before belting out one of her signature cackles. “I really do. I love Venn diagrams. There’s just something about those three circles and the analysis about where there is the intersection. Right?” Is it any wonder Harris has achieved the status as the single most unpopular vice president in modern American history?
Trump Reveals He Shot a Hole-in-One
In an instance of classic Trumpian humor, the former president released a lengthy emailed statement last March detailing a hole-in-one he shot at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Many people are asking, so I’ll give it to you now, it is 100% true,” Trump wrote. “I hit a 5-iron, which sailed magnificently into a rather strong wind, with approximately 5 feet of cut, whereupon it bounced twice and then went clank, into the hole.”
“I won’t tell you who won,” Trump concluded, “because I am a very modest individual, and you will then say I was bragging—and I don’t like people who brag!” The statement also included a link to a video of Trump retrieving his ball.
Elon Musk Reveals His “Pronouns” in Tweet Slamming Fauci
In a viral December tweet, Elon Musk posted five words that took Twitter by storm and enraged leftists all across the spectrum. “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Musk tweeted, mocking the left’s obsession with “preferred pronouns” and sharing his frustration with Anthony Fauci’s growing track record of corruption relating to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a testament to the tweet’s humor, it garnered 1.2 million likes and caught the attention of the Biden White House, which derided Musk’s comment as “disgusting” – a sure sign that the Tweet was indeed humorous.
Biden (Again) Falsely Claims He Was Arrested During Civil Rights Protests
Biden has long been known for his exaggerations—and at times, complete fabrications. This year, there was perhaps no better example of his pattern of dishonesty than his claim that he “got arrested” protesting for civil rights. “I did not walk in the shoes of generations of students who walked these grounds,” Biden said in a January speech in Atlanta. “But I walked other grounds. Because I’m so damn old, I was there as well. You think I’m kidding, man. It seems like yesterday the first time I got arrested. Anyway.”
Not only is Biden’s suggestion that he was arrested false, but it is also a claim he has made repeatedly for decades. Even the left-leaning PolitiFact deemed the claim untrue. “He’s been called out repeatedly for decades by fact-checkers, including PolitiFact,” the organization said, “for exaggerating his experiences with the civil rights movement and his interactions with law enforcement.”
Harris Fawns Over the “Yellow School Bus”
Like her over-the-top praise of Venn diagrams, Harris spoke in an unnecessarily elevated tone about her admiration of school buses. “So, here’s the thing. Who doesn’t love a yellow school bus? Right? Can you raise your hand if you love a yellow school bus? Right? Just—there’s something about—and some of us, many of us went to school on the yellow school bus, right?” Harris said. This moment recalls her singing the children’s song “Wheels on the Bus” during her failed presidential campaign. Could there be any thought more disconcerting than the reality that Harris remains one heartbeat away from the U.S. presidency?
Trump Pokes Fun at Men Competing in Women’s Sports
During several of Trump’s rallies this year, the former president hilariously mimicked males competing in female swimming and weight-lifting competitions. In several speeches this year, Trump amusingly grunted to impersonate female athletes struggling to break weight-lifting records, contrasted with the ease of men who “identify” as women lifting the same weights. “And then this guy comes along—who’s named Alice—and he looks at the weight—world record!” Trump said in a July policy speech. “We could’ve put a couple hundred pounds on, I think he would’ve lifted it.” In the same remarks, Trump said he would ask LeBron James if he had ever considered “going woman,” insisting he’d be “the greatest women’s basketball coach in history” by stocking his starting lineup with men.
Biden Takes Directions from Easter Bunny
In one of the most comical political moments of the year, Joe Biden was caught on camera taking directions from someone dressed in an Easter bunny costume to avoid answering questions from reporters. As funny as the incident is, however, many Americans rightly found it distressing that the leader of the free world is taking his marching orders from a staffer dressed in a bunny costume.
George W. Bush Lets Out Freudian Slip on Iraq War
Despite Biden’s many misstatements, gaffes, and lies, he was not the only U.S. president this year to make an embarrassing slip-up. In a May speech in Dallas, 43rd President George W. Bush confused Iraq with Ukraine—unintentionally implicating himself for sending American troops to the Middle East in what many Americans consider to have been a needless and costly war. “The decision of one man, to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq,” Bush said before quickly correcting himself. “I mean of Ukraine—Iraq too,” he quipped, eliciting laughter from the audience.
Biden Press Secretary Outrageously Claims U.S. Economy Strongest “In History”
As Americans continue to suffer from the highest inflation in decades, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre laughably claimed in July that the U.S. is “stronger economically than we have been in history”—even though every empirical fact contradicts this claim. As Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) tweeted in response, “Every American—except those working in the Biden White House apparently—knows that this is not true.” While the suffering of ordinary Americans is no laughing matter, it is nonetheless impossible not to see the humor in Biden officials so blatantly making statements that they and everyone else know to be false.
In spite of our nation’s obvious divisions along political, social, and cultural lines, it is both refreshing and healthy to take a step back, to retreat from daily partisan clashes, and most importantly, to laugh. And in a nation largely devoid of laughter, there are few better ways to end a politically tumultuous 2022 and set our eyes towards the new year.