To hear the mainstream media tell it, “conservative comedian” is a contradiction in terms because conservatives are incapable of being funny. However, this stance ignores the enormously profitable careers of some right-leaning comedians who appeal to half the country.
Let’s just say there’s a reason “Last Man Standing” was FOX’s second highest rated series and Jon Stewart can’t figure out why no one’s watching his show anymore.
Now even some libs are admitting that conservative comedians have something the woke crowd no longer does: freedom. In a world where making fun of anyone or anything can be deemed “problematic” and get a celebrity canceled, even the biggest names in comedy are struggling to find material that’s, you know, actually funny. Conservatives who don’t play by those woke rules are reaping the benefits.
Here are the most successful living comedians who lean conservative.
Greg Gutfeld
Where Jon Stewart has failed, Gutfeld has flourished. The Fox News commentator describes himself as libertarian and has done wonders for advancing the cause of conservative comedians. The New Republic, wondered if his show “Gutfeld!” was “the worst show on television,” and declared it was “the latest evidence that conservatives have no sense of humor.” But the data doesn’t back their claims.
Even Slate admitted that in 2019, Gutfeld attracted a larger average viewership (1.73 million total viewers) than any other late-night show except for Steven Colbert and Jimmy Fallon.Then by 2021, “Gutfeld!” grew to more than 2 million viewers, besting even the late-night mainstay Colbert.
Gutfeld blends satire with observational comedy and sketches, mocking cancel culture and the absurd fussiness of the modern Leftist. He’s been dubbed the “undisputed king of American late-night television” thanks to his willingness to poke fun at the things conservatives were secretly laughing about anyway.
Tim Allen
Speaking of ratings juggernauts, Tim Allen is one of the industry greats who’s best known for starring in sitcoms regular people can relate to. The 90s classic “Home Improvement” was a national treasure. More recently, the Fox sitcom “Last Man Standing” featured Allen playing Mike Baxter, an unapologetic conservative patriarch who often butted heads with other members in his family, particularly his eldest daughter Kristen and her husband Ryan, over their liberal viewpoints.
At the time of its cancellation, “Last Man Standing” was an indisputable hit with an average of 8.3 million viewers every episode. ABC gave a vague reasoning for canceling the show in 2017 – later picked up by Fox – but the comedian summed it up best when he said, “there is nothing more dangerous, especially in this climate, than a funny, likable conservative character.”
Adam Carolla
Funnyman Adam Carolla makes no apologies for being conservative. The creator of “The Man Show” and “Loveline” co-host explained in a 2012 interview why he switched from Democrat to Republican.
“I got tired of the whining and the name-calling,” Carolla told The Hollywood Reporter. “If you say you want to beef up the border, they say you’re anti-immigrant. If you want people to show I.D. before they vote, then you’re for voter suppression. If you want women to pay for their own contraception, then you’re anti-women. If you’re for traditional marriage, then you hate gay people.”
Though many of Carolla’s views are considered Libertarian, one of the most important stances he takes is being anti-apology. After getting slammed for mocking Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the comedian explained why he wasn’t going to say sorry.
Besides claiming what he said was plainly the “truth,” Carolla expressed his problem with apologies in general. “Apologizing just leads to more apologizing,” he said. “They want you to apologize because they want dominion over you. And once you apologize, they just keep coming back.”
Rob Schneider
Schneider is a famous actor and comedian who’s had decades of success after working on the sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live.” Unlike his frequent collaborator Adam Sandler, who is believed to be Republican but won’t confirm it, Schneider recently went on record saying he’d sacrifice his whole career to keep publicizing the truth as he sees it.
“Are you willing to lose it all for what you believe?” Glenn Beck asked during an interview.
Schneider didn’t hesitate, saying, “Absolutely. Because if we don’t have it, then we have nothing.”
“I’m not — I don’t care about my career anymore,” Schneider continued. “I care about my children’s — the country they’re going to live in.”
Jeff Foxworthy & The Blue Collar Comedy Tour
Jeff Foxworthy is the main face of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. He’s best known for one-liners that start with, “You might be a redneck if…” His brand of stand-up is specifically targeted to people living in red states, and he’s made a small fortune making them laugh.
Though he’s a registered Republican and has financially supported several conservative candidates, the comedian says he typically avoids political jokes. “No matter which side you’re on, half of the crowd is going to hate you. That’s not my job,” Foxworthy told Daily News in 2020.
Foxworthy and three of his comedian friends including Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy went around the country from 2000 – 2006 sampling satire and situational comedy that resonated with audiences coast to coast.
Dennis Miller
Miller makes the list at 21 on Comedy Central’s 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time and was ranked as the best host of SNL’s Weekend Update by left-wing outlet Vulture. And while there are some on the right who question his loyalty, the fact remains that most Leftists think he’s conservative.
Miller said he had a “great” weekly gig on “The O’Reilly Factor” on FOX News, which made him political by default.
“I’m socially liberal. I’m fiscally conservative. I don’t trust radical Islam as far as I can throw it. So when Bill (O’Reilly) would ask me questions about the world over the six year period that I was there, I would answer them,” Miller told Telegram & Gazette in 2019. “Once you do ‘Weekend Update,’ for better or for worse, you’re known as a topical comedian. I just decided to steer into the skid.”
Leftist late-night host Jimmy Kimmel accused him of defecting as well.
“I think people get upset because you’re conservative because you’re a comedian,” Kimmel said in 2018. “I think it’s weird for a comedian to be conservative — unusual, I should say. They say ‘What happened to you?’ What did happen to you, Dennis?”
Honorable Mention: Dave Chappelle
First and foremost, let’s be clear: Dave Chappelle is not a conservative. But he’s done a lot for exposing the insanity of the Left just by making jokes about their most sacred protected victim groups, including trans people.
The Chappelle controversy exploded in 2021 with the release of his comedy special “The Closer.” Furious activists tried to have it removed from Netflix all for saying he understands where J.K. Rowling is coming from.
“Gender is a fact,” Chappelle says in the special. “Every human being in this room, every human being on Earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact. Now, I am not saying that to say trans women aren’t women, I am just saying that those p*****s that they got … you know what I mean? I’m not saying it’s not p****, but it’s Beyond P**** or Impossible P****.”
“Any of you who have ever watched me know that I have never had a problem with transgender people. If you listen to what I’m saying, clearly, my problem has always been with white people,” Chappelle jokes later.
The outrage led to Chappelle getting attacked with a weapon onstage while performing stand-up and to getting a Minnesota comedy event canceled due to social pressure. So far Chappelle, arguably one of the most successful working comedians today, hasn’t officially switched parties. But he’s at least willing to call out hypocrisy when he sees it.