The intense and divisive 2016 US presidential election just received a much-needed jolt of levity, in the form of a hilariously awkward interview staged between two potted plants.
Hillary Clinton took a break from campaigning to appear on Funny or Die’s Between Two Ferns, a web series that parodies public-access television interviews, hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis. Previous guests include Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lawrence, and, most recently, US president Barack Obama.
Galifianakis typically asks his guests extremely bizarre questions and then interrupts them. His guests are in on the act, but pretend there’s actual tension in the room. Galifianakis kicked off his interview with Clinton by sneaking up on her in a Halloween mask, before being violently thrown to the ground by two Secret Service agents.
Clinton was having fun and being self-deprecating in a way that many of her critics say she often isn’t. Watch below:
Mixed in with the jokes and awkward humor were some very brief mentions of actual issues, including the US economy and Clinton’s opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Galifianakis interrupted Clinton’s discussion of the former by playing a Donald Trump campaign ad.
“I think that people deserve to know—are you down with TPP?” Galifianakis asked, referencing the 1991 hip hop song by Naughty by Nature.
“Um, I’m not down with TPP,” Clinton replied.
“No, you’re supposed to say, ‘Yeah you know me,’ like the hip hop groove,” Galifianakis said.
“Don’t tell me what to say,” Clinton deadpanned.
Perhaps the faux combative interview will prepare Clinton for Monday’s (Sept. 26) first presidential debate against Trump. That, however, is expected to be contentious in a very non-joking way.
Clinton’s interview on Between Two Ferns comes just two days after she made another lighthearted media appearance, on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show. Fallon asked her innocuous questions, at one point handing her a bag of literal softballs. A few nights before, Fallon had Trump on his show for a widely derided interview, in which he tousled with the candidate’s famed hair.
It’s unclear if Trump intends to go Between Two Ferns next, but we are guessing probably not.