Extreme polarization in U.S. culture has led some to ask whether anyone comes close to being a universally beloved figure in our public life. The standard reply usually includes three names, only one of which is still alive: Fred Rogers, Betty White, and Dolly Parton.
When I recently posed the question on social media, however, two living comedians showed up on people’s lists: Leann Morgan and Nate Bargatzge. Aside from all making us smile and laugh, the one thing these performers have in common that allows them to transcend our heated divisions is their ability to avoid partisan politics.
This doesn’t mean we are unaware of where they have stood on political issues. For example, Fred Rogers, the children’s television pioneer who passed away in 2003, was a fierce advocate for public broadcasting. Betty White, who died at 99 in 2021, was known as an early ally of the LGBTQ+ community and a vocal supporter of animal rights.
Nate’s Choice
But for the most part, they have each been adept at appealing to both “red state” and “blue state” America, which is no small feat in a world where every purchase, social media interaction, word choice and song list is coded as a political statement. To the disappointment of some of his fans, however, Bargatze fell off the Mt. Rushmore of universally beloveds last weekend when he was seen in attendance at the UFC Fight Night on the White House Grounds.
Joe Rogan, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Nate Bargatze
A source close to Bargatze cautioned people from reading too much into his appearance at the event, saying he was there simply because he loves ultimate fighting. This may have been enough to keep the detractors at bay if there weren’t photos of him at the event posing with HHS Secretary RFK Jr., Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Bargatze is known for his clean, observational, self-deprecating comedy. Although he isn’t billed as a “Christian comedian,” and his act is far from preachy, his Southern Baptist upbringing is a feature of his standup act. Although the signs that he may be MAGA-adjacent have always been there, his determination to remain neutral has allowed him to remain above the fray.
“I don’t talk about politics, and a huge part of it is just because there’s enough people doing it,” Bargatze said in a 2017 interview. “It is on every television show, late-night show. No one’s complaining they can’t find enough opinions on what’s going on.”
Bargatze was likely aware that his “Aw shucks, I’m just a dumb comedian, what do I know?” schtick would take a hit once he decided to attend the fight. It’s been reported that he discussed it with his team and decided to go anyway.
Is Neutrality Possible in Trump’s World?
Nate Bargatze’s ‘Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind’
His appearance at the UFC event raises the question of whether it is possible to be apolitical in a world where Donald Trump is President. As much as Bargatze may wish that it were, it simply isn’t.
I love Bargatze’s stand-up and laughed out loud throughout his book, Big Dumb Eyes: Story From a Simpler Mind. But by far, I believe his greatest contribution to the world of comedy was his 2023 SNL sketch titled “Washington’s Dream.”
In it, he plays George Washington rallying Revolutionary troops before battle, with a stirring call to imagine a country where citizens, not kings, choose how they will live their lives. The comedic punch was that the choices he elevated as ones we could make included a different set of weights and measures, as well as the invention of American football.
A hilarious moment in the sketch is instructive for this moment. As Bargatze’s Washington extolled the virtues of liberty, a Black soldier played by Keenan Thompson asked, “And the slaves, sir, what of them?”
Bargatze took a beat to think before saying, “You asked about the temperature?”
“I did not,” Thompson replied, before Bargatze went on, ignoring the Black soldier’s question and explaining how the Fahrenheit system will work.
This is how many pastors, institutional leaders, middle-of-the-road commentators, and celebrities like Bargatze have hoped to ride out the second Trump presidency—by simply pretending it isn’t happening and only talking about the things they want to talk about. And that could have worked in just about any other presidency up until now.
Most presidents create a sort of “middle space” in public life that nurtures relationships among political foes in such a way that allows them to see the humanity in each other. Fierce rivals Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill were known to visit each other at the end of the day to ask about each other’s families. State dinners and White House concerts have brought Republicans and Democrats together for generations.
Trump has no desire for any of that. Since everything he does is transactional, there is no room for the middle, apolitical environment that folks like Bargatze pine for.
The Cost of Neutrality
Meanwhile, U.S. citizens are being shot and killed in the streets by our government for protesting its horrific immigration actions.
Immigrants with no violent records, whether undocumented or with legal status, are being detained in concentration camps and sent to countries they’ve never been to.
In our name, the U.S. military killed 150 schoolgirls because of an unnecessary war that Donald Trump started on a whim and stopped because he was bored.
Measles is back.
Trump pardoned around 1,500 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, some of whom violently attacked police officers.
The Voting Rights Act has been gutted.
I could go on.
Bargatze’s mistake was never in trying to create a refuge from politics. Now more than ever, we need spaces like comedy and small talk and sidewalks and front porches and art to remind us of our shared humanity. But in stepping outside that space and into one marked by violence and division, he forfeited the benefits of neutrality.
And that is not just his loss. It’s ours.
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Senior Editor at Good Faith Media.