Comedy has always been prominent in politics, but this election cycle has brought increased attention to the role it can play in politicians’ rhetoric.
Kamala Harris gave her first major speech as the Democratic nominee for president last week, which included multiple humorous elements, including the conclusion that, “Simply put, [the Republicans] are out of their minds.”
The speech provided a first look at how Harris might employ humor in her election campaign.
Over the years, U.S. politicians have differed in their use of comedy. During an internship with Professor Daniel P. Carpenter of Harvard University's Department of Government, I recently reviewed the last 28 years of the annual State of the Union address and found that the Democratic presidents (Biden, Obama, Clinton) delivered comedic lines more frequently and more effectively than their Republican counterparts (Trump, Bush).
Former President George W. Bush, for example, hardly used comedy at all, registering just nine humorous lines across the four addresses during his first term. In contrast, President Biden was most likely to use comedy, including, the idea to “ban surprise ‘resort fees’” that “can cost you up to $90 a night at hotels that aren't even resorts.”
Although Harris’s nomination speech had a different purpose and audience than the State of the Union, it provided some important early signals as to where she could fall on the spectrum of politicians’ use of humor.
In 3,312 words, she made eight remarks that could be interpreted as comedy — including hyperbole, zingers, and parodying remarks. In other words, she devoted 1.85 percent of her speech to comedy. Among the last five presidents, the funniest was former President Obama during his second term, in which his State of the Union addresses averaged 1.81 percent humorous content.
Just as important as how much humor politicians use is what they choose to joke about. In past State of the Union addresses, three political contexts were especially popular targets of comedy.
One was the economy, which related to about one-fifth of the humorous lines. For example, in President Bush’s 2008 address, he lampooned wealthy Democrats demanding higher taxes, wryly inviting them to pay more. “I'm pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders,” he said.
Another popular context was public health, the subject of about 10 percent of the jokes. For example, in 2022, President Biden remarked, “You can't build a wall high enough to keep out a vaccine" — it might have landed better if he had delivered the line correctly as "keep out a virus."
Harris largely followed these trends, devoting 25 percent of her jokes to the economy and 12.5 percent to public health. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) had an even more humor-packed speech in accepting the Democratic nomination for vice president (5.67 percent of his words), focused 20 percent of his jokes on the economy.
Humor may prove advantageous for Harris and her campaign. The “angry” stereotype has followed Black women in politics and other high-profile positions, but humor can help subvert that trope.
Only 50 percent of the jokes in Harris's nomination speech yielded a large laugh, far lower than all the last five presidents, for which the lowest laugh rate was former President Obama in his first term (53 percent). In Walz’s speech, 90 percent of his humorous lines received a laugh.
But Harris's humor can neutralize some of the attacks from her Republican opponent. Former President Trump has repeatedly referred to Harris as “Laffin’ Kamala,” so humor could be a way to show strength in the face of his insults.
In the month since she became a viable candidate for president, humor has helped draw a contrast between her and Trump. Her mockery strategy, of calling the Republican ticket “weird,” is an example of humor.
Still, Harris must not overdo it with the humor. Evidence from previous State of the Unions suggests that certain topics are better left off-limits.
For example, in nearly 30 years of State of the Union addresses, there have been no jokes about climate change or drug addiction. Furthermore, some attempts at humor have backfired, such as Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) comment about the “childless cat ladies,” which he subsequently described as an attempt to be funny.
Self-deprecating humor also may not be the most effective path; indeed, in my analysis, it was not commonly used outside of President Biden, whose frequent self-deprecating remarks never managed to defuse concerns about his age.
Humor can be an extremely powerful weapon for Harris in her campaign if deployed appropriately. If she continues at her current pace, her use of humor could surpass recent past examples.
With Walz, they may be the funniest ticket in recent campaign history, resulting in substantial political benefits.
Max Kesselheim is a student at the Roxbury Latin School in Boston.
