Zach Galifianakis Was Blacklisted From A COVID ‘Public Campaign’ Because Trump Wasn’t On ‘Between Two Ferns’

In the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton appeared on web series Between Two Ferns, where host Zach Galifianakis grilled her with tough questions like, “When you see how well it works for Donald Trump, do you ever think to yourself, oh, I should be more racist” The video was a hit with over 24 million views, as was the 2014 episode with Barack Obama, but when asked if Donald Trump would ever appear on Ferns, the Baskets star replied, “Doing it the other way doesn’t interest me. He’s the kind of guy who likes attention — bad attention or good attention. So you’re dealing with a psychosis there that’s a little weird. I wouldn’t have somebody on that’s so mentally challenged. I feel like I’d be taking advantage of him. And you can print that.”

It was printed, and apparently caught the eye of the big man himself.

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration, led by Michael R. Caputo, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, wanted to make a $265 million “star-studded campaign to lift American spirits” during the pandemic. But “they sought to exclude celebrities who had supported gay rights or same-sex marriage or who had publicly disparaged President Trump. The actor Zach Galifianakis, for instance, was apparently passed over because he had declined to have Mr. Trump on his talk show Between Two Ferns.”

Between Two Ferns co-creator Scott Aukerman had an appropriate response:

— Scott Aukerman (@ScottAukerman) October 29, 2020

And don’t even get Trump started on The Hangover not taking place in Trump Hotel.