‘Veep’ EP Says It Seems Like Trump White House Is ‘Doing a Rival Comedy’

“I am able to laugh at political shows, but I am not able to separate myself from the real-life consequences of what he is doing,” David Mandel says

Veep Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Timothy Simons
Photographed by Elisabeth Caren for TheWrap

The Trump Administration is making it a lot harder to write the HBO hit satire “Veep.”

“Veep” executive producer David Mandel stopped by the “unconventional political convention” Politicon in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday to talk about the show’s upcoming season and how it is influenced by the current state of affairs in Washington D.C.

“It does seem like they are doing a rival comedy,” joked Mandel, speaking of the administration. “We think to ourselves, ‘What is the most stupid thing a President can do?’ On a daily basis, and sometimes on an hourly basis, they just outdo us, and it sucks.”

Although the show is both critically acclaimed and a fan favorite, some of the feedback Mandel has gotten since Trump took office has been from those who love the show but just “don’t want to laugh about politics.” Mandel gets that, saying that good storyline ideas have been nixed because they were  “too close to what happened” in the White House.

But there is a chance Mandel might be using a current hot topic as inspiration — the book “Shattered,” which is about Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Mandel said that the authors, Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen, recently visited the set, and now ideas are being tossed around about whether Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) will want an “autopsy” on why her presidential bid failed.

When Louis-Dreyfus accepted her 2016 Emmy for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, she said, “Our show started out as a political satire, but it now feels more like a sobering documentary.” That was before the election.

“I am able to laugh at political shows,” Mandel said, “but I am not able to separate myself from the real-life consequences of what he is doing.”

Comments