National Public Radio must have noticed that lots of people on the right are calling for their federal funding to be cut because they recently decided to reach out to Greg Gutfeld of FOX News for an interview.
Greg’s humor comes through in the segment but not for the NPR square who is interviewing him. In fact, one of the funniest aspects of the interview is the interviewer not getting Greg’s brand of humor at all.
At one point, he plays a segment of the Gutfeld! show where Greg makes a joke, then follows up by saying “a racist would say.” It’s a running gag on the show, but the NPR host fails to find the humor.
Partial transcript via National Public Radio:
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A lot of takes on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s sit-down with President Trump in the Oval Office last week. Here’s one more.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “GUTFELD!”)
GREG GUTFELD: So in the interest of world peace, let’s address Zelenskyy directly. Dude, you got to drop the Napoleon complex. As a short guy, I’m an expert. I know what it’s like to have a parade described to me by a tall 12-year-old.
SIMON: Greg Gutfeld dominates late-night comedy. His show, “Gutfeld!,” on Fox, airs an hour earlier than his rivals but has a larger audience than those of Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon or “The Daily Show.” He holds court before a live audience, along with a rotating crew of conservative comics and commentators and has become a key voice in the political and cultural debates and conversations on the Trump administration. Greg Gutfeld joins us now from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.
GUTFELD: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: I bet you’ve read and heard some of the labels applied to your comedy – insult conservatism, mean, provocative. Do you want to give us another label? What do you think of those?
GUTFELD: Fun. It’s fun. Anytime somebody describes something as mean, it’s because it doesn’t align with their beliefs, and they’re kind of upset about it, but also, they kind of wish that they had the freedom to say it as well. I take it as a badge of honor if somebody says that I’m being mean, and I’m just having fun. Even the clip that you played was more of a reference about me being a short person than it is about Zelenskyy. I would never, like, go after Zelenskyy’s height without at least acknowledging that I’m a very tiny person.
This was possibly the most telling exchange:
SIMON: Let me ask you one more question. You’re always punching left and not punching up at powerful people.
GUTFELD: Ooh, that’s an interesting point. You said, I’m always punching left, not up at powerful people.
SIMON: Well, powerful people…
GUTFELD: So you’re insinuating…
SIMON: …Powerful at the moment.
The whole thing is only about ten minutes long. Listen below:
It was nice of Greg Gutfeld to grant the interview. It’s too bad that Scott Simon didn’t enjoy Greg’s sense of humor as much as the millions of people who watch his show.
