Salon said Sunday that "Seinfeld" and "Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus "plans to infuse even more 'Veep' energy" into Kamala Harris's presidential campaign, and I can't stop laughing for all the wrong reasons.
If you've never watched "Veep" — and I'll admit that it is not for everyone — it's a political satire centered on Louis-Dreyfus's foul-mouthed, thin-skinned, ethics-free title character, Selina Meyer. There is no city other than Washington where "Veep" could even be remotely funny — because you've got to laugh to keep yourself from crying.
That's the "energy" that Salon's Kelly McClure seems so excited that Louis-Dreyfus will bring to the Harris campaign as she adds her celebrity and support, once again, to the Democratic nominee for president.
To her credit, Louis-Dreyfus was self-deprecating (and self-aware) about the fuss. She told The Times, "If Selina had any advice for Kamala, she had best not take it. I think Kamala is so intelligent she wouldn’t take the call." Well, she had to say that last part — particularly if it isn't true. Harris strikes me as too vain to refuse a call from any flattering celebrity.
I have just one short and very simple question for McClure: DID YOU NOT SEE THE SHOW?
Or maybe I should ask if she saw it but didn't understand it.
"Veep" is, in fact, a spot-on preview of a Harris administration.
The whole point of the show is that Selina Meyer, her advisors, and her campaign team — and, in fact, everybody in Washington — are self-absorbed, venal, cruel, and willfully ignorant to the point of being dangerous to themselves, the country, and the world. For the characters on "Veep," shallow and none-too-bright, there is nothing more important than their last personal approval poll or the next election.
ASIDE: For what it's worth — about $4 billion, actually — Louis Dreyfus is the daughter of the late multibillionaire Gerard Louis-Dreyfus. He made his money the old-fashioned way, in crude oil trading, gas investments, and infrastructure.
I did mention the show's cruelty, didn't I? If you have never watched the show, it was a foul-mouthed insult-fest that I couldn't get enough of.
Here are 15 straight minutes of insults from just the first four seasons.
Neither safe for work nor for the faint of heart.
Louis-Dreyfus recalled in an interview last year that she'd been told by Harris — who is a fan of "Veep" — that the show is "more like D.C. than anyone would care to admit.”
Let me repeat that: Harris is a fan of the show that brutally skewered people like Harris.
"Veep" is such a pitch-perfect send-up of what Washington is like in real life that Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tex.) wasn't really joking when he tweeted this just three months into his first term:
Crenshaw followed that up two weeks ago when news came out that Harris's virtual nomination had "Veep" streaming views up by a massive 353%. "Glad Democrats are getting to know their candidate, 😂," he posted.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, for all her enthusiasm, doesn't need to bring her "Veep" energy to the Harris campaign.
It's already there.
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