Falling Down: Gerald Ford, Chevy Chase, and the Power of a Pratfall
The Relationship Between Satire, Sketch Comedy, and The Presidency
Vice President Mike Pence was caught on camera tripping up the steps of Air Force 2. Given he’s Mike Pence, he’s being mocked on social media, with his fall being read as a metaphor for the administration’s response to the coronavirus, the Black Lives Matter Movement, and pretty much “fill in the blank.”
Pence’s stumble is also being compared to Gerald Ford, who famously slipped down the steps of Air Force One in Austria in 1975. That slip, combined with Chevy Chase’s portrayal of Ford as a bumbling stumbling fool, cemented Ford’s legacy as, well, a bumbling stumbling fool. Only problem? Ford wasn’t. His image as one, however, has stuck, and is one of the prime examples of the relationship between satire, sketch comedy, and the presidency. Chase’s presidential pratfalls helped create the contemporary political sketch comedy landscape, ushering in a new way to satirize, mock, and deflate the most powerful person in the world.
