Fox News took an antifa Monty Python joke literally, earning a laugh from John Cleese

Fox News falls for a Reddit joke
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Fox News)

The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious danger to Americans, but antifa still isn't, despite suggestions otherwise from President Trump, Attorney General William Barr, police departments, Fox News hosts, and fake antifa social media accounts linked to white supremacist groups. Antifa mania has led to some frightening situations but also some comedic ones, like when Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum read a Reddit post about Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) and missed the joke.

CHAZ, an offshoot of anti-racist protests that Trump claims is led by antifa, is a barricaded section of a Seattle neighborhood run as a collective, with art, snack areas, movie nights, smoking sections, dancing, and the occasional armed guard. The Reddit post MacCallum credulously read refers to Raz Simone, an unofficial leader of the zone, and the gag would have been obvious to any Monty Python fan.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.