An especially repellant political race is about to fade from the headlines. It would have been less ugly had more politicians traded invective for wit. Humor can take the edge off while retaining the bite.

"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand," Mark Twain said. Clever retorts are a superb way to neutralize assailants foaming with righteous anger as a means, they think, to enhance their arguments.

Today, the politician most skilled at cutting rage down to size with humor is Sen. John N. Kennedy. I disagree with many of the Louisiana Republican's views, but heavens, I enjoy his funny putdowns of pompous foes.

Several children on the nether left have regretted trying to verbally knife a guy who keeps a battery of intellectual missiles hidden behind the foliage of folksy Cajun-inspired banter. They try to make fun of his act without realizing that he comes to debates armed to take down their acts.

About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he said, "She's the reason there are directions on a shampoo bottle."

In another quip directed at AOC, Kennedy said that she was Kamala Harris "but with more bartending experience."

AOC responded, "My having been a waitress makes me 1000x more qualified to govern on behalf of working people than whatever lifelong politician nonsense you've swung from your whole career."

That was an able reply. But Kennedy's humorous comebacks will live long beyond AOC's earnest self-defense. As for her self-importance, Kennedy said, "Our plan for dealing with her is called Operation Let Her Speak."

Donald Trump rarely flashes genuine wit. He has the delivery of a Vegas comedian, which makes some audiences think he's actually funny. You can hear his fans' forced laughs.

While political humor is sadly lacking on both sides of the aisle, the farther left you go, the less clever the voices. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's videos never rise above merely cute. (Can anyone recall anything truly funny he's said?)

Bernie Sanders, though Jewish and from Brooklyn, displays not a scintilla of wit. His delivery is monotone and bitter, lists of complaints that have outlived the decades.

I begged AI to come up with evidence of some zinger coming out of Sanders. The best Claude could find was from a 2020 primary debate, where Rep. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat, accused Sanders of not knowing whether his Medicare for All bill would cut union worker benefits. Sanders replied, "I do know it. I wrote the damn bill."

Sanders conceded that his bill would end union health plans but insisted that his Medicare for All would replace them with something better. Several unions, notably the International Association of Fire Fighters, didn't buy such promises and opposed Sanders' bill.

Barney Frank, the late Massachusetts congressman, may have been the last Democrat to brim with memorable quips. When a woman at a 2009 town hall compared President Barack Obama's healthcare plan to Nazi policy, Frank came back with a deadpan response: "It is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated.'"

Smart humor can be unifying. It may hit hard on a target, but it can make both sides laugh in dark times.

In 2025, a right-wing reporter asked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, fighting to save his country, why he wasn't wearing a suit to an Oval Office meeting with Trump. Zelensky said he'd wear one when the war ended, "Maybe something like yours, yes, maybe something better."

Witty remarks soar over the partisan boundaries. Politicians like Kennedy get quoted by news outlets on both sides, so desperate is the public for sparkle in the repartee. I'd love to change his mind on some things, but hey.

Follow Froma Harrop on X @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at [email protected]. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

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