The Scoop
Donald Trump said he leaned on Fox News to help him come up with a tight ten minutes of jokes for a charity dinner this week.
However, while rumors on social media swirled that the jokes may have been written by the network’s news and opinion hosts, Trump was referencing Nick Di Paolo, Semafor has learned, the right-leaning radio host and comedian who has appeared on Fox host Greg Gutfeld’s late night show and contributed jokes.
During an interview on Friday with Fox & Friends, the Republican presidential candidate had said that he’d solicited help writing material from a number of people in his orbit including some staffers at Fox News.
“I had a lot of people helping, a lot of people, a couple people from Fox – actually, I shouldn’t say that, but they wrote some jokes,” Trump said. “For the most part, I didn’t like any of them.”
While Di Paolo has worked with Fox host Gutfeld and written jokes for his show, the comedian is considered an occasional vendor by Fox, and is not an employee with the network.
“Fox News confirmed that no employee or freelancers wrote the jokes,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement shared with Semafor.
A Trump campaign spokesperson declined to comment. A representative for Di Paolo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Di Paolo, who described his free 2019 comedy special on YouTube as “too “dangerous” for Netflix and too “honest” for Comedy Central, is a former writer for Chris Rock’s show and an occasional TV actor, appearing in the 2000s on various shows including The Sopranos and Lucky Louie.
“In this day of watered-down comedy Nick Di Paolo’s brutally honest performances remind us of what great stand-up should be - funny, socially relevant and a little bit reckless,” Di Paolo described himself on his website.
According to one person familiar with Trump’s set, Di Paolo contributed one joke the former president used on the night. It’s not totally uncommon for presidents to lean on late night staff for jokes at high-profile events. During his time in office, former President Barack Obama solicited help from writers for the Daily Show for his White House Correspondents Dinner routine.