The Washington Post is trying to change its editorial direction. Rather than being an all "Orange Man Bad" all the time paper, Jeff Bezos wants the Opinion Page to focus on promoting free markets and personal liberty.
In fact, the paper is trying to coax its current staff away, promising nice buyouts if they would only leave, for God's sake!
Will Lewis emails the Washington Post staff, encouraging those who "do not feel aligned" with the company's future plans to consider the buyout offer. pic.twitter.com/b3a7w6HbuB
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) July 9, 2025
So, how's that project going?
Not so well. In fact, the Opinion Page editors are digging so deep into the Trump Derangement Syndrome barrel that they actually found a clown to write an opinion piece about how Trump is awful.
Yes, they thought that we all needed to know that clowns are unhappy to be compared to Trump. The horror!
I’m a clown. Donald Trump is not one of us. https://t.co/zbVrVkHjSC
— Rinku Mathew (@rinkumathew) July 10, 2025
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there is an organization called "Clowns Without Borders," and that it had an official position on Donald Trump, but I shouldn't have been. I would love to know how much government money flows this direction through indirect grants, but I am too lazy to check because that's not the point here.
Allegations that President Donald Trump is a clownish figure are not hard to come by. Political strategist James Carville referred to Trump’s administration the “clown show” after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem gave an incorrect definition of habeas corpus during a Senate hearing. In response to the president retreating from both his hefty tariffs plan and his nomination of Ed Martin to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, MSNBC commentator Lawrence O’Donnell called the president a “humiliated clown.” And when the president made himself the focal point of laughter in June by hosting a birthday-military celebration to a lackluster crowd in D.C., hundreds of demonstrators across the country participated in “Kick Out the Clowns” protests — which they described as “a nationwide counter-circus” to the president’s “tacky” parade.
But none of this qualifies Trump for such a title. I am a clown and board president of the nonprofit, Clowns Without Borders. I’m here to set the record straight.
I have performed as a professional clown for 24 years. Clown, capital C, is a valuable and varied art form; pantomimes, acrobats, magicians, dancers, stand-up comedians, vaudeville artists and jugglers are all examples of artists who incorporate Clown into their work. Whether you know it as Clown or not, you’ve likely seen it. From stage clowns such as Bill Irwin to the characters of Cirque du Soleil, created by masters such as Michelle Matlock and Mooky Cornish; from pedagogical ensembles, such as Pig Iron or Spymonkey to health care clown organizations such as the Laughter League and Healthy Humor. Clown is huge.
I have to admit that the comparison of Trump to clowns is, in fact, unfair, although not in the way that Mr. Cunningham suggests.
Of course, I say that as a member of the Clown Haters Club, which, as far as I know, was just invented by me and gets no government money. I have never understood clowns, which appear to me to be a holdover from the days when parents used storytime to terrify kids with cannibal witches. It's no surprise that clowns feature prominently in horror movies.
In any case, Mr. Cunningham is deeply disturbed that his profession is being smeared by comparison with Trump. Clowns are good, Trump is evil.
All Clown shares the common values of healing, empathy and reflection. Our work touches people in need of joy everywhere. I’ve witnessed the smiles that clowns bring to the faces of people in hospitals, war zones, refugee camps and homeless shelters. In May, I traveled to Beirut to work with local clowns to share levity and playfulness with children living under the constant threat of bombardment. After our shows, their teachers told us that they saw a “life” in their students’ eyes that they’ve not seen since before October 2023.
Of all the things that didn't happen, that didn't happen the most. The clown that saved Beirut.
Trump gave us the Abraham Accords, Biden, October 7th, and clowns beat them both by performing in Beirut. Geez. The Washington Post printed this and expects us to take it seriously.
The clown ends his op-ed by urging readers to call Trump and others a “buffoon” instead.
— Joseph A. Wulfsohn (@JosephWulfsohn) July 10, 2025
Here’s the definition of buffoon: https://t.co/dW8MIWnDBE pic.twitter.com/FRDDqK85ze
Ironically, I, too, have compared Trump to a circus figure, but that is P.T. Barnum. Barnum was famous for creating something out of nothing, being the ultimate hype man, and of course, building a business through sheer grit and a flair for entertainment. Even when he fooled people, they loved him and kept coming back for more. Barnum was the quintessential 19th-century American success story. He even entered politics and became a Connecticut state representative, as a Republican.
Do Washington Post readers really want to hear from clowns explaining why they hate Trump? Perhaps. There seems to be an endless demand for Trump hatred among liberals.
Me? I am sitting in my seat eating popcorn, watching the Greatest Show on Earth.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member