Buffoon of the Week Staff
This week’s Buffoonology 101 pitted two self-styled Trump antagonists against each other in a battle for buffoonery, and somehow, both managed to miss their marks in equally absurd fashion.
In one corner: Shri Thanedar, a Michigan congressman with the charisma of a YouTube yoga instructor on lithium.
In the other: Terry Moran, a veteran journalist at ABC News who apparently mistook an exclusive interview with Donald Trump for an audition for DNC Vice Chair.
What united them this week? Both men positioned themselves as challengers to Trump in their own way—and both wound up stepping on a rake. It was a duel of the deluded, a face-off between political performance art and media malpractice.
Let dive into their buffoonery!
Ross’s Nominee: Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI)
Let’s start with Rep. Thanedar, a man who seemingly aspires to emulate a mix of Raj Koothrappali and Will Forte’s “Ted Calhoun” character from Saturday Night Live. With his over-enunciated monologue and overly dramatic delivery, Thanedar makes his political announcement of his resolution seeking to impeach President Trump feel like community theater.
That’s right—Thanedar earned his nomination for dramatically reading his impeachment allegations. Like a middle schooler auditioning for Law & Order: Kalamazoo, Thanedar leveled heavy allegations against the President, none of which would rise to the required level of high crime or misdemeanor. In fact, Thanedar’s proposed resolution sounded more like a list of Festivus grievances than a serious set of charges.
Thanedar’s attempt to jump on the “resistance” bandwagon felt more like open mic night for the clinically awkward.
His presentation was so bad, that even staunch Democratic leaders like Jerry Nadler and others removed their names from the resolution—signaling that even Democrats wanted nothing to do with this buffoonery. And we haven’t even mentioned how this resolution was dead on arrival the moment Thanedar introduced it to a federal government with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress!
If all of that were not enough, Ross Galloway further reminded our voting populace how the Michigan rep once owned a lab that, when shut down abandoned over 100 Beagles inside the locked facility. Beagles! Way to tug at the heartstrings, Ross!
After due consideration, here is where Congressman Thanedar falls within our Sharpton Buffoonery Matrix™, our trademarked ratings system that measures a nominee’s Buffoonish Nature (BuN) and Buffoonish Action Magnitude (BAM):
- BuN (Buffoonish Nature): 61 (Thanedar’s lack of gravitas receives bipartisan disapproval)
- BAM (Buffoonish Action Magnitude): 67.25 Giga-Sharptons™ (a Sharpton-esque whiff!)
Gene’s Nominee: Terry Moran – ABC News
Now on to Terry Moran, the ABC News anchor who, for reasons still unclear, gave Donald Trump the kind of interview usually reserved for National Enquirer hatchet jobs.
Moran scored a major sit-down with Trump this week—an opportunity to ask like a professional journalist while holding President Trump accountable for his first 100 days in office. But what we got was a hilariously unprepared hack whom Trump repeated owned.
From asking “stupid” questions of Sec. Def. Pete Hegseth, to querying about America’s reputation in the world post “Weekend at Bernie’s”-like Joe Biden, Moran was clearly looking for a “gotcha!” moment—and found none.
Perhaps the most egregious example came when Moran sparred with Trump over Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a reputed MS-13 gang member whose deportation became a political flashpoint for partisans. You may recall from past coverage how the Supreme Court modified a District Court order, directing the administration to “facilitate” Garcia’s return based on due process grounds that has since both political and legal drama.
This topic is where we hit peak Trump energy in Moran’s interview.
After an embarrassing back-and-forth, Trump dismissed Moran with, “I picked you because frankly, I never heard of you,” lamenting how the ABC reporter blew his one opportunity at a fair interview with the former president of the United States.
It wasn’t that Moran asked no hard questions. It’s that he kept teeing up Trump to hit back harder. Every time Moran tried to pivot or push, Trump countered with a classic one-liner or redirection that left Moran flailing.
This wasn’t just a missed opportunity—it was a broadcast bellyflop.
- BuN (Buffoonish Nature): 64 (ABC News’s C-Team reporter got exposed by the master)
- BAM (Buffoonish Action Magnitude): 999.99 Mega-Sharptons™ (Fun to be sure, but nothing new from media hacks)
Trump Derangement, but Make It Slapstick
The common thread here? Both Thanedar and Moran see themselves as bold voices pushing back against Trumpism. And hey—we’re not here to defend Trump. He literally needs no one’s help. We’re here to point out when self-styled resistance warriors trip over their own shoelaces.
This wasn’t political courage. It was political theater.
Moran could’ve scored real points if he’d stayed focused and prepared properly. Thanedar might’ve landed a solid blow if he hadn’t been so stilted—and had his facts straight. Instead, they both reminded us why performance politics is a dangerous drug: it replaces strategy with stunts.
Who‘s the Bigger Buffoon? Thanedar or Moran?
Each nominee failed in their own special way. But either way, this was a masterclass in how not to attack Trump.
Now it’s your turn: Vote in our poll, stir the pot in the comments, and spread the gospel of buffoonery by sharing with your friends. And don’t forget to check back each week for more from Buffoonology 101, where we chronicle the latest misadventures in political absurdity—because in today’s political landscape, buffoonery isn’t a bug in the system… it’s the brand.
