Jordan Klepper Follows Conspiracies to Their Satirical Extremes
*By Alyssa Caverley*
The world that comedian Jordan Klepper has created on his Comedy Central show might fold in on itself if not for the inherent tension keeping up all four walls of "The Opposition," a late-night political satire.
"I play this heightened character that satirizes the voices on the right and the far right," said Klepper in an interview with Cheddar. Think of Sean Hannity on Fox News, or the bombastic and conspiratorial Alex Jones of Infowars who inhabit a "world that doesn't believe in the mainstream, that's anti-mainstream, anti-facts, anti-reality."
Stephen Colbert's old Comedy Central character was based on a mainstream version of a conservative talk-show host, but as the political commentary has become more extreme, Klepper's comedy had to follow it to the fringes.
"We find the chaos and the thing that frustrates us and we try to expose it by looking at some of the tactics, looking at some of the motivations behind it and expanding it to such a degree that it just feels ridiculous and I think people need that in this day and age when it does feel so dark," Klepper said. "A little bit of laughter can break out of that fear bubble that we live in and hopefully provide a little bit of solace."
As the country's political discourse has grown more polarizing since Donald Trump was elected, Klepper said his show has a role to play in late-night comedy helping to synthesize and understand what is going on by tracing people's own fears and finding the absurdity.
The Comedy Central funnyman joked that many of the far-right talk show hosts he watches are a "bucket of inspiration," providing him with as many conspiracy theories to mock as they seem to feed Fox News and, ultimately, the White House.
Klepper said his show probably wouldn't have registered in quite the same way had Trump not won the 2016 presidential election. He would be talking more about issues than the "orange" man in charge, he said.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/jordan-klepper-calls-out-right-wing-conspiracy-theorists-on-satirical-talk-show).
The ongoing war in Ukraine and the Fed's hawkish stance toward reining in inflation might be causing a frenzy among investors. Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at foreign exchange OANDA, joined Cheddar News to talk about the current "mixed bag" markets. "It's hard to read too much into it. These are just the market conditions we have right now," he said. "Ultimately we're a little directionless at times overall, but these intraday moves are causing a lot of volatility this week."
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 29, 2022, with President Biden asking Congress for a $33 billion aid package for Ukraine, a shrinking GDP potentially leading to a recession, Beijing banning weddings and funerals while closings schools amid COVID, and more.
Buying a new home is tough right now; but for first-time buyers, it's an especially challenging time, with obstacles like rising mortgage rates and record-breaking home prices. The housing market is not expected to get much friendlier, as mortgage rates are expected to continue to climb as the Federal Reserve proceeds with its plans for rate hikes in an effort to stifle inflation. Jonathan Miller, President and CEO of real estate appraiser Miller Samuel, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tyler Moran, former senior adviser to President Biden on migration, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss the recent controversy around the administration's decision to end the use of Title 42, a public health order allowing the U.S. to expel migrants without going through the asylum process.
Christian Heyne, vice president of policy at the gun safety group Brady, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss President Biden's executive action on so-called "ghost guns," and to reflect on the Brooklyn subway shooting.
Jasmine Burney-Clark, founder of Equal Ground Education Fund and Action Fund, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss the redistricting process in Florida, and how the state's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a map reducing the power of Black Floridians.
Ryan Thoreson, an LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss claims of grooming made by Republican politicians during efforts to pass so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bills.
Zachary Petrizzo, media reporter at The Daily Beast, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss former President Trump's endorsement of Dr. Oz in the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, and why some parts of the MAGA base are unhappy about it.
Larry Sharpe, libertarian candidate for New York governor, joins Cheddar Politics to talk about the issues motivating his campaign. The discusses his endorsement from the progressive Forward party founded by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, and changes that can be made to voting systems.
