‘If MPs have immunity, then why are they so afraid of the Coronavirus?’ Political humor during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave in Europe

The COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to an unprecedented circulation of online humor, an important part of which referred to politics and politicians. In the current study, we analyzed a sample of such humorous items (N = 361) across five European countries to find out how pandemic humor represented political leadership. We argue that COVID-19 political humor both politicized and depoliticized the figure of the politician. Pandemic political humor went beyond criticizing those in power by presenting them as iconic yet relatable personas, who were equally stunned by the magnitude of the task of crisis management. Our findings reveal the broader trends of humor depicting politics as a spectacle.