Look, everybody can agree that fake news is a bad thing. But some of it—the type we’ll protect in quotes (i.e. “fake news”)—is tremendously enjoyable. And by that, we mean Saturday Night Live‘s long-running sketch series, “Weekend Update,” and the collective cast’s take on the Trump administration; and cable shows like Comedy Central’s one-time hit, The Colbert Report, and its current hanger-on, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. You can even throw John Oliver’s HBO show Last Week Tonight, but you have to pay a premium to watch it.
That said, all of the above shows have had a decidedly lefty slant—maybe with the exception of The Colbert Report (as you may remember, its host Stephen Colbert—who took over for David Letterman on CBS’ late-night talker—was the 2006 White House Correspondent’s Dinner host, when Republican president George W. Bush was still in office). In other words, lefty “fake news” far outweighs righty “fake news.”
But a recent veteran of the Daily Show wants to change that. According to The New York Times—which ironically, has been accused by President Trump of reporting the non-quote-un-quote fake news—comedian Jordan Klepper will be launching a new righty leaning “fake news” show called The Opposition With Jordan Klepper. In it, Klepper and his cast will portray characters more in tune with the Drudge Report, Breitbart and Infowars ethos than that which lampoons broadcast or print media.
As Klepper told the Times, “There are so many great shows right now, with incredibly smart people, with amazing, earnest takes.” But what he’s really gunning for is “taking a point of view that is out there, and heightening that through absurdity and stupidity.” (See: Alex Jones.)
The show will air out of the Daily Show in the 11:30 p.m. time slot. It premieres on Monday, Sept. 25.
Below, watch Colbert interview Klepper about his new “fake news magazine” on the Late Show.
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