Former CNN contributor Kayleigh McEnany began a new chapter in her career on Sunday, appearing in a biting anti-Trump comedy sketch that rivals anything Saturday Night Live could dream up. McEnany’s short film is ostensibly a brutal parody of Lara Trump’s embarrassing “Real News” broadcast from last week, but she takes Lara Trump’s sycophancy to such absurd lengths that it loops back around from comedy into dystopia. This was the week, after all, in which Scaramucci was fired, news broke that Trump personally dictated his son’s false statement, and several administration figures were tricked into corresponding with an obvious imposter—and that was just Monday—but to hear McEnany tell it, the lead story is how “President Trump has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction.” It’s hilarious, but there’s also something poignant about watching McEnany try to maintain a convincing smile until the video’s giant red white and blue stripes wipe to the next “story.”
Less successful as satire is a tacky segment about the RAISE Act, Trump’s proposal to cut immigration in half that was the subject of that memorable exchange between Jim Acosta and Stephen Miller about “the Statue of Liberty Law of the Land.” Everyone from Stephen Colbert to Pauly Shore immediately recognized what a great gift to comedy that press conference was, but McEnany instead wastes viewers’ time on an ultra-sarcastic riff in which she pretends that the economic theories Trump is using to sell the bill aren’t nonsense. This kind of feigned ignorance can be funny for a few sentences, but McEnany draws everything out until even viewers who appreciate her larger point will find themselves wishing she’d land the plane sooner.
From there, McEnany … What? This video isn’t a parody? It was posted on Trump’s Facebook page? Jesus. This joke has gone on so long, it just isn’t funny anymore.
