This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
Some very serious and unfunny things happened this year in American politics. Today, though, we are not going to talk about those things. Instead, we will examine a few of the times our elected leaders made us laugh—with them or at them.
But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.
- Zelensky knows the clock is ticking.
- A national tantrum at a national park
- What Trump and Musk don’t get about Russia’s nuclear threats
Cringe and Giggle
Although there are varying degrees of funny in American politics, the antics of our elected officials are often best described as funny-weird or funny-cringe, or, especially, funny-yikes. Sometimes, we are blessed with a genuine funny-haha. Regardless of category, we must acknowledge these moments and savor them. It feels good to laugh together; we don’t get to do it very often.
The following is a collection of some of the moments in American politics this year that made us cringe and giggle the hardest, gathered by me and a few of my Atlantic colleagues.
Woof! After Bette Midler called West Virginians “poor, illiterate, and strung out” in response to Senator Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Build Back Better bill late last year, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice brought his enormous bulldog to the statehouse in January and held her up to face the legislature. “Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there: Kiss her heinie!” Justice said, turning Babydog’s little doggie bottom toward the crowd.
I’ll have what she’s having! Did you see the October video of Kamala Harris giddily explaining to a crowd how much she loves Venn diagrams? Yes? Well, watch it again; it’s great. To quote the vice president: “It’s just something about those three circles and the analysis about where there’s the intersection, right? You agree with me, right?!”
More Kamala, please. Have another clip of the vice president absolutely loving life during an event promoting new investments in electric school buses. This time, she’s walking toward a school bus while singing an off-key version of “The Wheels on the Bus.” Then she cackles. The woman loves a yellow school bus!
The entire NYC-rat discourse. In October, New York City Mayor and well-established rat hater Eric Adams declared a new front in his war against the city’s rodents. But the best part was when Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch looked straight at the camera and spoke like she was rallying Gotham City before an attack from the Riddler. “I want to be clear: The rats are absolutely going to hate this announcement,” she said. “But the rats don’t run this city. We do!”
Speaking of Eric Adams. The mayor did a lot of wild and wacky stuff this year. A fun example was when he tweeted a video of himself sliding down a fireman’s pole in Queens “like a pro.”
Welcome to “Wegner’s.” In a campaign video that also proved to be a hilarious self-own, Mehmet Oz went shopping for something he decided to call “crudités” and bought broccoli, asparagus, whole carrots, guacamole, and salsa. “Guys, that’s $20!” he told us, struggling to hold all the food in his arms. “And that’s not including the tequila!” What?! This was a gift for Oz’s political opponents, of course. But it was also a gift for the world.
Funny yikes. During the White House Easter Egg Roll, the Easter Bunny steered President Joe Biden away from talking to reporters about Afghanistan. Not a joke, folks!
Good as Hell. In September, the pop superstar Lizzo got to play a 209-year-old crystal flute once owned by James Madison. Then she twerked with said flute onstage in D.C. Some people were upset by this. The whole thing was wonderful.
Got him. I got a nice chuckle out of this attack ad in which Ohio Representative Tim Ryan accused his Senate-race opponent, J. D. Vance, of being “UNCOMFORTABLE IN FLANNEL.” Although the indictment didn’t secure Ryan’s victory against Vance, it certainly gave us something to remember.
Herschel Walker! The football player turned Georgia Senate candidate generated enough random one-liners and nonsensical rants to earn his own subheading. Remember when he pulled out his honorary sheriff’s badge at a debate just weeks before the midterms? How about when he told a crowd, leading up to the Georgia runoff elections, that although vampires are cool, he’d rather be a werewolf? (Walker lost the runoff in December.)
Gotta catch ’em all. After declaring that he’d run for president again in 2024, Donald Trump promised another yuge announcement. The news? A new line of digital trading cards, each showing the former president in a different costume: boxer, race-car driver, astronaut, the guy from Top Gun. Take your pick! Only $99 apiece.
Today’s News
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Biden at the White House today in his first foreign trip since Vladimir Putin’s invasion. He will also address a Joint Session of Congress this evening.
- A powerful winter storm system is strengthening across the U.S.
- The former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried dropped his objection to extradition and will return to the U.S. from the Bahamas to face criminal charges. (Fried has said that he did not knowingly commit fraud.)
Dispatches
- Up for Debate: A chatbot gives Conor Friedersdorf predictions for the future of AI.
Explore all of our newsletters here.
Evening Read
The Dilemma of Babies on Airplanes
By Stephanie H. Murray
Boarding a crowded plane with a small child feels like entering a game show where each contestant has been given a different set of rules: Everyone walks away feeling cheated. Nonparents feel robbed of the peaceful trip they paid for. Parents feel that they were set up for failure. The ultimate prize—a relaxing trip with no screaming and no strangers shooting you judgy looks—is rarely winnable. In the most heated conflicts, one of the aggrieved parties takes to social media, where the public acts as referee. The matter is almost never resolved.
Why does flying with children generate such conflict? It could simply be that travel is hard, for kids and adults alike, and tends to bring out the worst in both. But I suspect it’s more than that. Sharing airspace with young children seems to challenge not only our patience, but also the entire social order.
More From The Atlantic
- The concept of the “best friend” has too much power.
- Photos: Argentina’s World Cup victory celebration
Culture Break
Read. Spend a few moments with “Girls’ School,” a poem by Amanda Larson.
“One Hannah / ran 12 miles in the morning, / the Los Angeles dust moving under her steps. / The other studied the brains of zebra finches / that were simultaneously held captive / and falling in love.”
Watch. Our critics list the 15 best TV shows of the year, including Severance, The Bear, The Dropout, and Abbott Elementary.
P.S.
To all the Daily readers who wrote to me yesterday and kindly suggested that I give cross-country skiing a try: Thank you. We’ll see. And to anyone who might be craving a different kind of essay—a happy, uplifting, nature-y one, maybe—allow me to recommend my ode to opossums from July. Remember: Opossums don’t hibernate, and sometimes their little ears and toes freeze in the wintertime. If you have a friendly opossum living in your yard, consider leaving out a little shelter box for him or her this holiday season.
That’s all from me, for now. See you next year!
— Elaine
Isabel Fattal contributed to this newsletter.