STUDY: Comedy Shows Go All In For Mamdani By Attacking Rivals 95% Of The Time

In the Trump Era, the late night comedy shows have been looking for any glimmer of light they can find, and over the course of the first ten months of 2025, they think they have found it in New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. As the industry puts itself squarely in the middle of Mamdani Mania, it has done its part for the campaign by telling 95 percent of its mayoral election jokes about his rivals. Only three out of 63 jokes were about the socialist front-runner.

NewsBusters analysts examined ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers from January 6 through October 29..