Benny Johnson is finding himself on the receiving end of a flood of mockery after cheering on Shane Gillis’ edgy ESPY monologue and claiming the comic called the January 6 Capitol attack “staged,” prompting critics to ridicule the MAGA podcaster for obviously misunderstanding Gillis’ joke.
“Dumber than bricks,” Consequence publisher Alex Young tweeted about the serial plagiarist.
Despite his comedy not veering as far to the right as many of his anti-woke “brocaster” peers, Gillis has become something of a MAGA darling in recent years, especially after he was fired before even starting as a Saturday Night Live castmember over resurfaced jokes that were deemed racially offensive and homophobic.
Since then, Gillis’ career has taken off with numerous televised comedy specials, commercial endorsements and his own Netflix series. Four years after his preemptive termination, Gillis got the chance to host SNL, which was met with mixed reviews. Meanwhile, he continues to host a successful podcast that not only regularly features a number of his fellow comics but also a pair of right-wing conspiracy theorists.
During the ESPN sports awards show on Wednesday night, Gillis took aim directly at Donald Trump and the controversy over his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, which has caused a meltdown among the president’s supporters after the Justice Department concluded Epstein died by suicide and didn’t keep a “client list” to blackmail prominent figures.
“Donald Trump wants to stage a UFC fight on the White House lawn. The last time he staged a fight in D.C., [former Vice President] Mike Pence almost died,” Gillis quipped to laughter and applause.
After joking that he didn’t even write that bit, the comic then referenced the Epstein affair that has the MAGA universe in chaos, particularly after the president ordered his “boys” and “gals” to “stop caring about” the Epstein files because it's “bulls***” and a Democratic-fueled “hoax” written by former President Barack Obama. Trump has even gone so far as to chastise Republicans who demand more information on the case as “stupid” and “weaklings.”
“Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but I guess it got deleted,” he said. “Probably deleted itself, right? Probably never existed, actually. Let’s move on as a country and ignore that.”
Johnson, who has urged Trump to “release everything” on Epstein to prove the files are “fake” because it’s “the No. 1 motivating issue for the base,” shared a clip of Trump-mocking jokes and proclaimed that “we control culture now.” At the same time, he essentially proved that he didn’t understand that Gillis was actually making fun of the president and his base with the Epstein quip or the January 6 joke, instead claiming that the comic was somehow endorsing the right-wing conspiracy that the FBI orchestrated the insurrectionist attack on the Capitol.
“Comedian Shane Gillis calls January 6th ‘staged’ and makes a Jeffery [sic] Epstein murder joke that has crowd ROARING at the ESPYS,” Johnson tweeted.
It didn’t take long for Johnson’s woefully wrong take to come under fire on social media, with many observers taking great joy in pointing out how the joke went right over the Trump lackey’s head.
“Shane Gillis isn't a subtle comedian. But somehow this guy misunderstood BOTH jokes,” Substack writer Alice from Queens reacted.
“Amazing. Gillis jokes that Trump ‘staged’ Jan. 6 the way he wants to stage a UFC fight at the WH - meaning he organized and was responsible for Jan. 6 - and that it led to Mike Pence almost being killed,” finance journalist James Surowiecki noted. “Benny Johnson tells his followers that Gillis was saying Jan. 6 was faked.”
Political strategist Max Flugrath bluntly pointed out that Johnson “doesn’t understand that he’s the punchline of the joke,” while leftist streamer Hasan Piker let the MAGA influencer know that “he’s making fun of Trump man.”
CNN senior politics reporter Andrew Kaczynski, meanwhile, helpfully added that Gillis’ “joke is that Trump did it” as Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor asked and answered his own question.
“Today’s installment of…moron or bootlicker? (The answer is usually both),” Vietor tweeted in a since-deleted post, leading Young to respond: “Don’t forget plagiarist!”
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