Comedian/podcaster/thirst trap Jordan Klepper has become a viral sensation, largely for his remarkable ability to speak fluent moron. Over the past few years, The Daily Show correspondent’s regular sojourns into MAGA World have been a highlight of the satirical news series. Klepper himself largely thanks his improv background for his ability keep a straight face while carrying on inane conversations with everyone from January 6 rioters to Mike Lindell. But even Klepper admits that listening to the conspiracy theories that come out of these people’s mouths can indeed be “infuriating.”
On Monday night, Klepper sat down with Seth Meyers to chat about how he prepares for his deep dives into Trumpworld, and admitted that it’s not always easy. While Klepper explained that he adopts “the improv rule of prep, and then let it all go and see what happens” he admitted that “more often than not, it’s just us pushing people to get to the point where they have to justify the issues they maybe haven’t thought through.”
Meyers, who knows Klepper to be a naturally “very nice, very polite person in real life,” was curious as to whether it was difficult to maintain such an “affable persona” when he’s talking with people he clearly does not agree with. Klepper decided to clarify the question: “As a nice guy, is it easy to be nice to these f***ers?” His answer was pretty forthright:
It’s infuriating, I will say. Sometimes you want to shake folks. I try not to. Or babies. Folks or babies… I will say, what I empathize with, when I go to any of these rallies, is people want community. And I get that. People want community and they need meaning. When you go to a rally, what you find is likeminded people who have a purpose. And you walk into an arena and you have the former leader of the free world say, ‘You’re a hero! You’re a patriot! Just do what I do!’ And so, I get that. I joined an improv group; that gave me purpose and a community. We all have our own cults!
So I can empathize with why people are there, I think. But I get frustrated with the logic that’s behind some of these ideas. And the manipulation of the people who impose that logic onto these folks.
As millions of people regularly watch Klepper’s videos, he admits that going the undercover route is no longer so easy. He told Meyers that he does get recognized, and when he does people generally either want to engage with him or yell and chase him down.
What truly shocked Klepper, however, was attending CPAC earlier this year. “I was prepared for people to recognize me and not want to engage and perhaps get fairly angry that I was crashing their party. But I was shocked by how many selfies I took at CPAC.”
You can watch the full clip above.