Maddow Reviews All the Times US Presidents Appeared on Comedy Shows

On Thursday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow took aim at ABC News reporter Jim Avila, CNN political analyst David Gergen, and a number of conservative political commentators who asserted that President Barack Obama’s appearance on a Funny or Die web video debased the office of the presidency. Maddow took the opportunity to play clips of all the times when American presidents made light of themselves by appearing with comedians.

RELATED: Bill O’Reilly: Abraham Lincoln Would Never Have Appeared on Funny or Die

Maddow featured Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush who appeared with popular comedians at some point in their presidency. She said that, if you are concerned about the “dignity of the presidency” being imperiled by these appearances, “you should probably lighten up.”

“Telling jokes are being part of comedy bits have generations of precedent among American presidents, it really never has diminished the office,” Maddow asserted

Watch the clip below via MSNBC:

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[Photo via screen grab ]

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