An Analysis of YouTube: Trump’s Impeachment Process
This paper was written in 2019 for an American culture studies class for the fall semester.
With the House vote for a formal impeachment inquiry on President Trump looming soon, there has been an overwhelming amount of press coverage on it, notably from the 24-hour, 7 days a week television news cycle. This can be seen quite clearly on YouTube, a social media platform that allows people to create entertaining, educational and other types of videos for the world to see. After viewing several videos regarding this topic, it can be concluded that YouTube heavily pushes traditional news media outlet content and showcases channels and videos that express a more strong and divisive opinion about the topic.
One of the things I noticed when I first searched up “Trump impeachment” was YouTube putting up the most updated information about the impeachment inquiry first. Every single video result came from the traditional and well-established news outlet, such as CBS News, MSNBC, Washington Post, and Fox News. Fortunately, YouTube can show a wide range of news outlets and there was no leaning towards conservative or liberal media based on their “Relevance” algorithm.
When switched to the most popular videos to see the overall reaction to impeachment, the results look drastically different. The top videos are from Saturday Night Live, a popular American variety skit show on NBC. Followed suit are deeper satirical political analyses from comedians, such as graduates from The Daily Show such as John Oliver and Trevor Noah, and SNL graduate Seth Meyers.
The most viewed video titled, “Impeachment Cold Open – SNL”, features Alec Baldwin impersonating President Trump as he calls several politicians and Trump-backed public figures (also impersonated by the SNL cast) after hearing news of the inquiry [1]. The uncanny impersonations and exaggerations are intended to poke fun and mock the Trump administration. The comment section is littered with quotes from the skit, entertained by the quips. One comment that gained over 1.4 thousand likes, was a witty one-liner, “I am enjoying these documentaries SNL is putting out” [2].
The kind of skit is nothing new, as Saturday Night Live is well-known for their political cold opens, especially since the 2008 general election with Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin. This shows the public is entertained in seeing politicians being portrayed as incompetent and completely nonsensical, notably in the second most popular video in relation to impeachment from SNL titled, “DNC Town Hall – SNL” [3]. The video also features an array of exaggerated impersonations of politicians, notably presidential candidates from the Democratic party. Caricatures of the politicians are heard clearly in the way they speak and what they talk about, simplifying all the candidates’ platforms to a one-sentence slogan. The hyperbolic interpretations are lauded in the comment section. Commenter “Czeckie” with one thousand likes noted Woody Harrelson’s impersonation of Vice President Joe Biden “was like eleven times more coherent than the real one” [4].
SNL shows from these two videos that they remain unbiased in who they want to satirize. They make a strong point that their purpose is to entertain the public by making politicians into comedians. By taking the political power they have over the American people via humor, it puts the politicians below them, thus making them feel better that they’re at least smarter than these “inept politicians”.
Another type of video that was quite popular come from the political satirical news show such as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. All three of these shows have the exact same format: one host, usually a comedian, explains a hot political issue behind a desk in-depth with graphics and video clips (usually seen at the top left corner of the screen). There is also a live studio audience to react to their timed comedic jokes. Popularized by Jon Stewart, former host of The Daily Show, these kinds of shows have grown to prominence in the past decade and even more so after the 2016 presidential election as an alternative to 24-hour news channels.
Notably, Last Week Tonight’s video on impeachment is a 20-minute video about the potential idea of impeachment [5]. Although this is dated back in June when the Mueller report was released, it still is relevant in four months after. The comment section is different from SNL’s, with commenters writing long paragraphs. Tonight’s comment section is not entirely made up of those who are for impeachment, but occasionally has a few from Trump’s supporters. A comment said, “Impeachment (sic)……….which will lead to (sic).................nothing. A lot of expensive theater”[6]. This ability to be seen by others from the other side of the pond is particularly noteworthy with the growing divide of the general public watching from media that aligns with their political views.
Similarly, Late Night with Seth Meyers also did “A Closer Look” segment on Trump’s impeachment in the beginning of this month. Meyers also has the same format as Oliver, pulling up quotes, graphics, and soundbites from politicians that lead to jokes[7]. In comparison, Meyers has a more relaxed approach, leaning more on quips than giving the audience a lot of information. Considering that Late Night airs on CBS to a national audience compared to Last Week Tonight airing on a niche, paid channel like HBO. Despite these differences, Meyers still delivers the news in a comedic effect. Commenter “Keeping It 100%” says it succinctly: “Comedy has really gotten me through these 2 years and 9 months of his presidency. 395 days until the election vote [sic] blue” [8]. From this comment alone came a few replies from others who expressed different views like, “Haha. Yeah right. Vote red” [9].
These kinds of shows serve as a direct response to the unnecessity of having a 24-hour news network, featuring pundits and anchors who express extreme views that can be used to terrify or radicalize their viewers. Meyers’ and Oliver’s way of delivering the news can be viewed to be more level-headed and coherent than traditional outlets. From this popular search, it seems like the YouTube community favors and prefers comedy when talking about impeaching Trump.
However, this is not the full picture of how Trump’s impeachment is covered on YouTube. There is a dramatic flair to this pressing political issue, mimicking the current president’s ascension into office and his current behavior/reaction to the impeachment inquiry. When I stepped out from the comedic part of the search, I came across many news outlets, most of which are from 24-hour news networks and would heavily feature pundits on their shows. These videos are titled in a manner that will provoke someone to react and end up watching the video that may align with their extreme views or to watch it out of contempt, otherwise known as “click-bait”.
On the conservative side, Fox News would quote their guests as their video title, such as “Rep. Doug Collins calls upcoming Trump impeachment vote a ‘sham’”, while the liberal outlet MSNBC would counter with “As Trump Takes Victory Lap, Dems To Vote To Move Forward With Impeachment”. In addition, the video thumbnail would have the news outlet logo, indicating clearly who published the video so that the viewer can identify and recognize it immediately.
One of the videos that stood out was from Fox News, a conservative television news network. In this video, Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal defense attorney, provides his insights regarding the impeachment inquiry on The Ingraham Angle [10]. In this 13-minute one-on-one interview, Giuliani and Ingraham are seen constantly interrupting each other, but have one clear goal in mind: to explain to their viewers the reasoning behind Trump’s phone call with Ukraine. Giuliani is praised in the comment section for being able to explain himself and defend the president, all the while Ingraham was heavily criticized for her supposed unprofessionalism in not letting the former New York City mayor express himself. As expressed, most of the commenters align and identify with what Giuliani believes in, delivering short comments about how “good” of a man he is to “Mr. Trump”. Despite the aggressiveness of the interview, it still delivered the message that Fox News wanted to convey.
On the liberal news media side, MSNBC delivers just as equal scathing commentary towards Trump. In this case, the pundit is Bill Maher on Hardball, in which he spends 10 minutes giving his two cents regarding whether Congress should impeach Trump. Using strong convicting language, Maher expresses that if impeachment didn’t happen, “where’s the bar?” [11] Although this interview was conducted back in January, it’s still terribly relevant. The commenters on this video share the exact sentiments as Maher, lamenting that he was no longer on the platform and wants him back. One of the commenters, storm past1, reveres Maher, expressing: “bill maher the most reasonable snarky man on television my hero” [12], gaining hundreds of likes.
One of the things I noticed that although both news organizations leans rather extremely on the opposite sides of the political spectrum, they have a lot in common than one may think. First, they invite their pundits to deliver their opinions, and most of it is instigating or sparking intense and divisive debates. These pundits do not give facts of whatever topic they talk about it but speak more on their opponents’ failures or lack of moral compass, viewing their opinions to be factual and logical. As a result, the commenters, who are regular viewers of these channels, can identify and align their beliefs with them.
Secondly, these news organizations do not invite anybody who doesn’t align with the network beliefs or anyone who have nuances to their opinions. At times, Fox News or MSNBC anchors may have moments where they speak out against the channel’s beliefs, but it does not happen as often and is viewed negatively.
Lastly, there is a lack of factual information. Nearly all of it is merely the pundit’s opinion and are typically talking points that the network wants to express to their viewers. This type of reporting is the catalyst for the rise of political satire comedy shows, in which they “do their job” and give information to back up their claims, including citing and showing news clips, studies, surveys, charts, and so on. This kind of information is void from these talking heads interviews.
These videos do well on the YouTube platform, but YouTube does not put these up as the most popular videos when you do a search on this topic. YouTube pushes for comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live or political satire driven shows such as Last Week Tonight and Late Night with Seth Meyers. While it politically leans to the liberal spectrum, these videos are made popular due to the comedic and satirical nature, entertaining the audience in this grim and divisive political climate. At times, that’s really what one can do during these times to have some sort of power over public officials who hold some power over us.
If anything, YouTube is an imperfect but accurate mirror of American culture, and the video sharing platform is just a newer and fancier stage. It’s still familiar in a sense, having the same elements of making fun of the elite and using comedy to cope during the rougher times of our country. If that isn’t inherently American, then what is?
Footnotes
[1] Saturday Night Live, “Impeachment Cold Open – SNL,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
[2] Comment from Gearzmesh, “Impeachment Cold Open – SNL,” Youtube, 10/28/19.
[3] Saturday Night Live, “DNC Town Hall – SNL,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
[4] Comment from Czeckie, “DNC Town Hall – SNL,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
[5] Last Week Tonight, “Impeachment: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO),” Youtube, 10/28/19.
[6] Comment from Jerrystolk, “Impeachment: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO),” Youtube, 10/28/19.
[7] Last Night with Seth Meyers, “Trump Is Having an Impeachment Meltdown: A Closer Look,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
[8] Comment from Keeping It 100%, “Trump Is Having an Impeachment Meltdown: A Closer Look,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
[9] Comment from Italiano Dio, “Trump Is Having an Impeachment Meltdown: A Closer Look,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
[10] Fox News, “Giuliani: Democrats stepped into more than they realize,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
[11] MSNBC, “Bill Maher: If We Don’t Impeach President Donald Trump, Where Is The Bar? | Hardball | MSNBC,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
[12] Comment from storm past1, “Bill Maher: If We Don’t Impeach President Donald Trump, Where Is The Bar? | Hardball | MSNBC,” YouTube, 10/28/19.
