As my Slate colleague Andrew Kahn noted in his piece last year about Trump and Putin make-out memes: “The trope is deployed not because it is novel but because it is not. It’s predictable, it’s lazy, and the joke is starting to sour. Are we trying to get one over on Mike Pence or Focus on the Family here? No, the primary reason is because gay stuff is the way we troll Mike Pence now.
Why is the rabbit gay, exactly? Oliver’s stated reason is that the Pence family book tour is scheduled to stop at the anti-gay group Focus on the Family, which seems like a stretch. What about this children’s book makes it ripe for a gay parody? There’s nothing about Marlon Bundo, except perhaps the name, to suggest any sort of queering. In part it’s because the joke just doesn’t make sense.
Why then, does the core joke here, about a gay bunny, feel so tired? And Mike Pence is a homophobic monster, rightfully deserving of mockery. I know, I know: Proceeds for Oliver’s book go to the Trevor Project and AIDS United, and those organizations will do some important, life-changing work in the world with the money this book earns them.
Oliver is a comedian, and I realize this is a joke-but it’s just not that funny.