Don’t Come to the Cabaret....

As I write this (19 September 2025) Donald Trump is waging war against late night American television. It has been a lot like German cabaret in the years before Hitler, with all sorts of political commentary. The Nazis didn’t like it. As I write in my book Bending Spines:

“The political cabaret had a prominent role in Germany before 1933. The wit was biting and vivid, with little sacred. Many artists were Jewish, leftist, or both, and left the profession or the country. Goebbels hoped that the urge for self-preservation would keep the remaining performers in line, but that did not turn out to be the case. The more subtle the performers became,the more effective their lines could be. The classic example is Berlin’s Werner Finck, who after his cabaret reopened after difficulties with a previous show said: “We’re not too open, but we’re open enough to just barely stay open.”

Goebbels introduced “positive cabaret,” which didn’t work out too well. In 1937 he tried to ban carabet, but it somehow continued very nervously into the war years The point is that despots, dictators, and those who imitate them hate to be ridiculed. Donald Trump’s fragile ego hates being laughed at, and it is not suprising that he wants to get rid of late night television comedians.