Why isn’t there a conservative version of ‘The Daily Show’?

There are conservatives who dabble in political humor, like former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Dennis Miller and Greg Gutfield, the former host of Fox News’ irreverent 3 a.m. “Red Eye.” Gutfield once faked a 16-person panel, a stunt that could also double as commentary on the state of American political punditry, and interviewed the costumed lead singer of the band GWAR. Jesse Watters’s segments on “The O’Reilly Factor,” where he asks people on the street questions about politics and history, are a Fox News version of Jimmy Kimmel’s “Lie Witness News.”

But none approach the consistent political satire of Stewart, Stephen Colbert, or John Oliver, all of whom conservatives insist are barely-concealed liberals. A 2009 Ohio State study found that conservatives were more likely to say Colbert, who acted the part of a staunch conservative on the show, disliked liberalism and “only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said.” Liberals were more likely to not take Colbert’s political statements seriously.

There are a number of theories for why political satire has such a liberal bent. Oliver Morrison wrote about several for the Atlantic, including that people of different political beliefs appreciate different types of humor. Studies have shown that conservatives prefer stories that have clear-cut endings while liberals have more tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, suggesting they enjoy irony more. Other theories include that there’s fewer conservative comedians because there are fewer conservative people in the creative arts, according to one study, and that humor is inherently liberal because it aims to “punch up” and take on institutions that conservatives, theoretically, seek to support.