Hobbs tells ‘Daily Show’ why audit is ‘dangerous’
For late-night comedy shows, the Republican-led Arizona audit of the 2020 election is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
For people who live in Arizona, that means it’s a consistent source of embarrassment. The idiocy is funny, sure – come on, looking for bits of bamboo on ballots in a quixotic attempt to find tens of thousands of “illegal” votes with a straight face is comedy gold. Unless you’re the butt of it. Which, if you live in Arizona, you are.
“The Daily Show,” which as recently as May 6 ridiculed Arizona over the recount, went back to the comedy well again Wednesday night, this time in a longer, more in-depth segment. (Stephen Colbert and John Oliver also had taken their shots in the meantime.)
It was awesome.
Surprise – Katie Hobbs did not come to play
Last time it was just “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah talking about the lunacy of it all. This time it was correspondent Jordan Klepper visiting the state, complaining about the heat – rookie move – and visiting Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the audit is being held.
Klepper interviewed Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs,no stranger to national media. She knows what plays both locally and for a wider audience, and she’s willing to tick off the former to reach the latter. I don’t know if that gets you elected governor or whatever office Hobbs might want to run for someday. But it makes for good TV.
And she was bringing it Wednesday night.
“I know that it’s comical to watch what’s happening here in Arizona,” Hobbs said. Yes, it is.
“But I think it’s also important to note that this is also dangerous to our democracy.”
Yes, yes, many times yes. The whole convoluted exercise is an affront to election integrity everywhere.
“And you know what?” Hobbs continued. “We saw how dangerous the post-election misinformation was. This is a group of people who are clearly partisan. It is
headed by a company that has no auditing or election experience. And they’re making up the rules as they go along.”
Klepper interviewed Bennett, Brakey
Klepper played straight man, teeing Hobbs up for the big shot. And who is this company?
Cyber Ninjas, Hobbs said. Cyber Ninjas, Klepper repeated, fake incredulous. “Is it run by a 12-year-old boy?” He said the firm’s website looked like an invitation to his ninth birthday party. “These are not pros,”
Hobbs said, nothing the firm’s lack of expertise and experience.
But there is more. Seeking input from both sides, Klepper also spoke with Ken Bennett, the state Senate’s audit liaison, and John Brakey, an official helping to oversee it. This was particularly enlightening. If you could figure out what they were trying to say.
“We’re myth busters, OK?” Brakey said. “We’re doing things we think are foolish, but people believe it’s real.”
My kids believed in the tooth fairy for a while, too. Klepper brought up the bamboo.
“Bizarre, huh?” Brakey said.
Indeed. So why keep doing it? At some point I just started giving my kids money and not stuffing it under their pillow when they lost their teeth. People grow up and move on.
Klepper joked around a little about the upcoming pause in the audit for … high-school graduations. But Bennett and Brakey admonished him.
“It’s not a joke,” Brakey said. “Let’s go back to the bamboo talking. But it’s not a joke.”
Of course it is. And as seemingly every night proves, the joke’s on us.
But at some point – and that point has passed – it’s just not that funny anymore.