Jena Friedman Says U.S. Customs Is Asking Comedians If They Make Fun of Politicians
If comedy is legal now, will the Trump Administration give it due process?
One of the core positions of the Trump regime during its transition back into the White House was that, under President Biden, American comedians faced persecution and censorship on a level not seen since Lenny Bruce ended up in the back of a squad car. While cozying up to influential Manosphere comics like Joe Rogan and Andrew Schulz, President Trump and his ally Elon Musk promised that the end of “wokeness,” as they defined it, would usher in a Golden Age of American humor, and that anyone with a podcasting microphone or a TikTok page full of crowd work clips would be free to joke about anyone they wanted — so long as that they don’t punch up at the President himself, apparently.
When stand-up comedian and late-night alumna Jena Friedman returned to the U.S. following a trip to Vancouver, Friedman found that the President’s extremely restrictive border policy has apparently compelled customs agents who screen American comics on their return home to ask these artists if they perform any material aimed at our political leaders.
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It’s unclear if the customs agent who screened Friedman during her return to America was following the protocol of U.S. Customs and Border Protection under President Trump when he questioned the comic over possible political content in her routine, or if he was a rogue actor taking it upon himself to protect Americans from their own First Amendment rights. Whatever the case may have been, the fact that an American returning abroad can face disruptions if they partake in political humor should be a huge red flag to anyone who actually cares about free speech in comedy.
Friedman’s good friend Nikki Glaser defended her fellow comedian during a recent event hosted by Time, telling the crowd of Friedman’s customs interrogation, “I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but I definitely don’t think that I am immune to having some kind of backlash or that I could be put on some kind of list because of some story I reposted.” She then pointed out, “Look at other places that have dictators. You’re not allowed to say bad things about them.”
Glaser specifically recalled her own recent experience performing to a crowd in Canada where she was especially critical of the Trump administration, then thinking after the show, “Oh My god, what if what I said gets recorded and sent out? Maybe I could not be let back into the country.”
While Friedman was allowed to return to her home after her uncomfortable questioning, the fact that U.S. Customs is inquiring about what kind of jokes Americans tell before letting them back into their own country should concern every American with either a passport or a podcast.