The Iowa Republican Party has denied media credentials to Comedy Central’s news satire show The Daily Show but not because the show skewers the GOP.
According to Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann, the show was blocked from attending as a legitimate media outlet, not because they are liberals–In fact, they already have plenty of liberals approved for attendance–but because they will likely ridicule Iowans.
“The reason is, we were afraid they were going to make fun of Iowa,” Kaufmann said. “I bet we’ve got 10 or 15 Democrat-oriented blogs, liberal blogs. But anybody that I think is going to make fun of Iowa–they’re unwelcome.”
To prove how the Iowa GOP welcomes liberals, Kaufman said, “We even let NBC in!”
Referring to the recent debate debacle held by NBC’s affiliate CNBC, Kauffman went on joking, “But we’re not going to let them ask the questions.”
With its recent change of hosts after the retirement of former host Jon Stewart, The Daily Show has seen its ratings take a serious tumble. Since new host Trevor Noah took over from Stewart, the show is down 59 percent in the key audience of teens and young adults and is down 33 percent overall from this time last year.
Noah has also found some criticism. He recently got in trouble after being accused of stealing jokes from comedian Dave Chappelle.
But this is nothing new. In April, Noah was accused of stealing from a number of other comedians, as well.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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