Bill Burr has been one of the Media Research Center’s favorite alleged comedians for insulting non-right-wing people — we documented how in 2023, right-wing movie reviewer Christian Toto praised Burr’s film “Old Dads” for taking lame shots at “woke” culture, whatever that is. But when Burr criticized a right-wing favorite, Toto flip-flopped on him, writing in his March 15 column:
Bill Burr seems immune to Trump Derangement Syndrome.
The stand-up avoids overtly political narratives, focusing on life’s little hypocrisies. Or big ones.
He’s no Colbert, Kimmel or Oliver, and he hasn’t spent the past eight-plus years laser-focused on the “Apprentice” star’s every move.
He’s also not afraid to poke the woke bear. He did just that via Netflix’s “Paper Tiger” special.
Lately, though, Burr has been taking a hard turn to the Left. He dismissed the notion that California Democrats were to blame for some of the wildfires’ damage, for example. The facts scream otherwise.
Burr cheered on Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing a health care CEO in cold blood.
Now, Burr is channeling his rage against X owner Elon Musk. The comic insists Musk’s awkward hand gestures at the President Donald Trump inauguration gala showed his support for Adolf Hitler.
It’s the kind of partisan idiocy embraced only by extremists like “The View” hosts. Burr insists there’s no other explanation. Never mind the endless clips of Democratic leaders doing similar gestures, or the complete lack of Nazi-esque behaviors by the world’s richest man.
It’s beneath a comic of Burr’s stature to embrace that line of thinking. Or is it?
It’s “beneath” Burr to point out that what Musk did looked exactly like a Nazi salute and not just “awkward hand gestures”? And why does Toto think Musk’s obvious Nazi-esque behavior somehow indicates a “complete lack of Nazi-esque behaviors by the world’s richest man”? Toto went on to whine:
What is Musk’s crime, beyond creating electric vehicles via his Tesla corporation?
Has Burr read the headlines about terrorist-style attacks on Tesla dealerships? Did he miss the images of people hoping to take out Musk … permanently?
Politics aside, doesn’t Burr realize how influential Musk has been in the fight for free speech?
Perhaps Burr prefers Twitter 1.0 when conservative voices were silenced and the platform did the government’s censorial bidding. Is that what a stand-up comedian who relies on free speech to make a living craves? Really?
Or is he making a concerted push to the Left to snag a talk show or other progressive gig?
Toto didn’t mention that X has a history of censoring X users who don’t adhere to his right-wing views, and X is cooperating with government requests to remove content more enthusiastically than under previous ownership. But rather than look at the actual evidence, Toto huffed: “There’s only one firm explanation here. Burr is gorging on Legacy Media’s spin regarding Musk. And, sadly, he’s become the most public face of Musk Derangement Syndrome. And he won’t be the last.”
Toto wasn’t the only MRC writer to lash out at Burr. Alex Christy grumbled in a March 19 post:
Comedian Bill Burr stopped by NBC on Tuesday to sit down with The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon and go on a rant against billionaires who have supported President Trump, but mostly Elon Musk, calling them “horrible, heartless people.”
A wound-up Burr began by declaring, “Well, it’s a positive time, Jimmy.” After a nervous Fallon sarcastically agreed, “Yeah, it really is,” Burr continued, “Billionaires are not happy having a billion dollars.”
He then wondered, “Why does Elon Musk dress like he just got out of a Hot Topic? I am so sick of that guy trying to rewrite his origin story, like he was Matthew McConaughey pulling into the high school.”
According to Burr, Musk’s true origin story was, “You were a [bleep] nerd. Nobody banged you. And now you have hair plugs in your laminated face.”
Burr kept rolling, “Everybody is afraid of these nerds. I don’t get it. My whole life, feminists were focusing on frat boys and guys with their hats on backwards, and they left the nerds alone. And now look at ’em. They got people wearing adult diapers driving 18-wheelers trying to get crocs to the, I don’t know, the box store on time. They’re horrible, heartless people.”
Christy went on to complain that Burr “praise[d] Luigi Mangione. Funny, we remember when MRC writers argued that abortion doctor George Tiller deserved to be murdered.