Fred Armisen has seen the memes that use characters from his beloved sketch show Portlandia to make fun of Donald Trump’s ludicrous depiction of Portland, Oregon as a fiery hellhole. And yes, he is amused.
“It’s really funny,” Armisen says on this week’s episode of The Last Laugh podcast. “People send me these memes all the time, and they’re all so well done. The graphics they pick and the words they pick are really just right on.”
He goes on to say that the memes have been a “nice way” for him and Portlandia co-creator and co-star Carrie Brownstein “to feel like the show has relevance or a life” since its eight-season run on IFC ended in 2018. “So we’ve really been enjoying what that is and how the show functions in the present tense.” The fact the show is now streaming on Netflix has also opened it up to an entirely new audience.
The memes, which feature characters like the very unthreatening “Women & Women First” feminist bookstore owners, came in response to Trump’s attempts to send the National Guard into what he falsely characterized as “war-ravaged” Portland following protests against ICE operations in that Pacific Northwest city. A federal judge deemed Trump’s depiction of the city “untethered to facts,” declaring in a ruling that blocked his efforts, “This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.”
When I ask Armisen, as the defining cultural voice of Portland, what he would say to people who believe Trump’s vision, he replies, “I don’t imagine that anyone really thinks that,” with a laugh. “Maybe I’m delusional, but I think deep down everybody knows, like, come on.”
“It’s such a quiet city,” he continues. “And I love that city. I was there recently and I go as often as I can.” This New Year’s Eve, Armisen will be opening for his friend John Mulaney in Portland. “I appreciate being associated with it because of the show. But the city is so much bigger than a sketch show. We tried to compliment the show, but it’s just a such an ultimately beautiful, quiet, cozy city. It’s so cozy.”
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