Samantha Bee tells of ‘tidal wave’ of abuse after Trump election victory
The former Daily Show correspondent said she was sent images of her own death after his presidential victory.
Writer and comedian Samantha Bee has said the election of Donald Trump brought a “tidal wave” of online abuse and violent images.
The former Daily Show correspondent was critical of Mr Trump on the US satirical programme, during his presidential campaign.
She said she was thankful for the comic opportunities provided by his campaign, but when it ended in victory, everything changed.
Bee said she was sent images of her own death immediately after he won.
Speaking to David Tennant on the actor’s podcast, she said: “Everything changed in November, you could really feel it.
“Someone sent me a photograph of myself, like, hanging from a tree, dead. I thought, ‘oh my god’.
“My social media began to fill up with the most insane messages from people who had hated the show all along.
“Suddenly it was a tidal wave of imagery and horrendous language. I really felt in that moment that there was, like, a danger, the air was so toxic.
“We had George W Bush. This felt like an even bigger impending disaster. This was the Hindenburg, for sure.”
The US-Canadian comedian, who now hosts Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, has claimed that failures in the US electoral system allowed Mr Trump to become president.
She said: “This populist fever. Not quite enough people voted. We have a lot of different features to the electoral system that misfired all at once.”
The satirist denied that the tone of Daily Show coverage or her own comedy would have changed if Hillary Clinton had been successful in 2016.
She said: “We would have tons of funny material about her. She’s an imperfect person and a wonky weirdo. There would have been tons to talk about with her.”
David Tennant Does A Podcast With… is available from Tuesday on Acast.
