Sometimes celebrities endorse political candidates; icons of music, film, or even, yes, television backgrounds will stick their necks out to attach their names to politicians, not knowing of course whether or not that politician will succeed. Beyoncé did it in 2012 for Barack Obama, and on the flip side, one of the bearded hunters from Duck Dynasty did the same for Donald Trump last year.
And now the stars of America’s longest-running animated series are joining the fray. In a short video called “3 a.m.” released by the executive producers of The Simpsons, both Homer and Marge Simpson came out with their full support for the official Democratic candidate for president, Hillary Clinton, while at the same time, bashed Trump.
Briefly, the married yellow couple of Springfield, like many undecided voters around the nation, could not figure out who to choose between Clinton and Trump. They came to that conclusion, as you do, while kissing passionately, but frustration over political indecisiveness drives Marge to break the love up, asking Homer what they should do.
Homer, of course, being the true American he is, switches on the TV to make the decision for him (which isn’t at all a knock at political ads that attempt to sway the swing voters by bombarding them with facts and fictions). A commercial blares on instantly, and a detached, monolithic voice says, “It’s 3 a.m. in the White House. Who do you want to answer that call?”
As an answer, the image moves on to show Bill and Hillary Clinton in bed, asleep, until the telephone rings. Bill picks up, and says instinctively, “The Situation Room? I’ll be right there.” That is, until he realizes he’s no longer First Lady, but First Gentleman instead, and passes the phone to his wife.
In the next scene, Donald Trump–yellow, but complete with pinkish circles around his eyes–is tweeting hate at Elizabeth Warren while reading “Great Speeches” by A. Hitler when he picks up the phone. “Put my name on the Lincoln Memorial, make Chris Christie eat a worm just for laughs, disband NATO, and make me some scrambled eggs on a gold plate.” Trump then makes his way towards the Situation Room, but not before spending ample time having servants beautify him.
The ad concludes with the usual “paid for by”–in this case, the ad is financed by “the Americans really starting to miss Obama”–and Marge turns to her husband, her mind made up. Homer, as usual, isn’t sure what he’s thinking. But as soon as Marge threatens to leave him if he doesn’t back Hillary with her, Homer admits, “and that’s how I became a Democrat.”
The Simpsons are not the first comedy stars to come out and mock Trump while praising Hillary; after all, Stephen Colbert revived his old Colbert Report character to do so while Trevor Noah of The Daily Show staged his show in both Cleveland and Philadelphia to mock and praise the two candidates respectively on the ground. Granted, this might be the first time a pair of cartoon characters have revealed their presidential leanings.
You can watch the video below.