Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

If there is one way that I would sum up what the 2016 election was on cable news, it was world-class journalists interviewing morons.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

'The West Wing' was an incredible, inspiring show - and one of the reasons I wanted to be a speechwriter.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

I'll always cringe remembering those little embarrassing moments when I said something dumb on a conference call, when my inexperience poked through, when I should have been more solicitous of the judgment of those around me. They're a reminder that it's not mutually exclusive to be confident and humble, to be skeptical and eager to learn.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

The one thing I didn't want to do was a show about the White House. I was too close to it.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

Part of my job as a presidential speechwriter (along with great writers like Jon Favreau and David Axelrod) was finding that sliver where 'presidential' and 'actually funny' overlap.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

When a joke works, it works. It can make a point in a really simple way; it can be a great little sound bite to put on television or share on social media. Humor has this incredible power in how we communicate about politics now, in part because there's something natural in the way it's communicated.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

We are drowning in partisan rhetoric that is just true enough not to be a lie; in industry-sponsored research; in social media's imitation of human connection; in legalese and corporate double-speak.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

I don't live in the city of L.A. I live in West Hollywood.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

A boring speech can be just a boring speech. But a speech with a joke that falls flat is awful. I hate it. That's why I think it's easier to hate a comedy. If a drama doesn't land, it's boring; if a joke doesn't land - you hate that.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

I am very glad that Paul Ryan left the government as a capitulating supplicant to Donald Trump while the government was shut down, while the debt hit record levels, right? Every single thing Paul Ryan claimed to care about.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

I went into politics for the reasons most people do: ambition, self-righteousness, and a desire to help others.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

When in doubt, mock the powerful, not the powerless.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

Barack Obama took office in the middle of a massive financial crisis. He was handed a bunch of messes all around the world and at home.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

America needs a strong, rational, positive, practical conservative movement. It needs that bulwark against liberal delusion and hubris. It needs a voice that says we are imperfect, that life is complex, that government can create need even as it meets need, that you can't fix everything, and freedom is worth some danger and sorrow.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

It is extremely chilling that Donald Trump views the spectacle of choosing cabinet appointments in a way that is similar to deciding whether or not to fire Lil Jon or Joan Rivers.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

We need to stop telling each other to shut up. We need to get comfortable with the reality that no one is going to shut up.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

Trump is a raptor testing the fences, and he found weaknesses to escape and try things that would work, every single day.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

More and more people support equality for their gay friends and neighbors, and that is not because the 'Duck Dynasty' guy almost lost his show.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

One of the lessons of 2016 is to spend less time worrying about what will happen and more time worrying about what we want to happen.

Jon Lovett
Jon Lovett

As a rule, I think people in L.A. are interested in any writer who brings a different skill set and experiences. There's an attraction to novelty and to anyone whose writing isn't based in screenwriting. I had that novelty.