# Non-third world Nations with more comical leaders than Trump since the end of World War 2? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2018, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824 "2018-08-18T08:29:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/1 "2018-08-18T08:29:10Z")
Im having a hard time thinking of too many. I guess Nikita Khruschev might be a good one. United States guess we gotta go with Nixon, but at the very least he made an attempt to show some respect for the office. My final candidate would be Tony Abbott of Australia, in many ways a harbinger of Donald Trump . . . ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/2 "2018-08-18T09:29:30Z")
Rob Ford? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/3 "2018-08-18T09:31:53Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/4 "2018-08-18T10:16:26Z")
Silvio Berlusconi is definitely up there. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/5 "2018-08-18T14:23:26Z")
I remember a lot of laughter about George W. Bush, and unlike Trump, there wasn’t quite the same kind of undercurrent of fear and outrage. The laughter directed at Bush was a little more light hearted. (People definitely loathed Cheney and some of the other members of Bush’s cabinet.) But W himself, perpetually stumbling over his words and making goofy facial expressions, was more of a source of comedy than of outright _loathing_ as is the case with Trump. In some ways that would make him a _more_ comedic leader than Trump, because Trump’s ‘comedy’ is kind of outweighed by straight up outrage. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/6 "2018-08-18T14:25:55Z")
Nixon was scum and yet overall he was a very good President and quite moderate overall. He hurt and embarrassed the country but I think overall Trump is a bigger buffoon and probably is doing as much damage. He’s just doing it one tweet at a time as opposed to the big bomb known as Watergate. > [@Lamoral](#): > > I remember a lot of laughter about George W. Bush, and unlike Trump, there wasn’t quite the same kind of undercurrent of fear and outrage. The laughter directed at Bush was a little more light hearted. (People definitely loathed Cheney and some of the other members of Bush’s cabinet.) But W himself, perpetually stumbling over his words and making goofy facial expressions, was more of a source of comedy than of outright _loathing_ as is the case with Trump. In some ways that would make him a _more_ comedic leader than Trump, because Trump’s ‘comedy’ is kind of outweighed by straight up outrage. That is a excellent point, W. mostly seemed like a buffoonish puppet for Cheney & his evil cronies. Even W’s crony appointments were more unqualified buffoons than sinister. Right Brownie? ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/7 "2018-08-18T14:43:54Z")
Brezhnev was the butt of many jokes in the Soviet Union. Alas, most of these jokes are essentially untranslatable since they rely on wordplay related to Brezhnev’s muffled pronunciation. Gerald Ford was often thought of as clumsy (falling down the steps of Air Force One, etc.) and something of a buffoon. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/8 "2018-08-18T14:48:32Z")
Canada’s Justin Trudeau has had a rather seedy reputation of late, what with an [ethics scandal](http://globalnews.ca/news/3926724/justin-trudeaus-bahamas-vacation-broke-multiple-ethics-rules-commissioner/), allegedly [groping a reporter](https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/06/americas/justin-trudeau-groping-allegations/index.html) (well before his ascendancy in politics) and [having really weird eyebrows](http://thejournal.ie/factcheck-justin-trudeau-eyebrow-disappear-press-conference-4064403-Jun2018/). Not as lurid as Trump-mania revelations and I have to admit I was unaware of the Trudeau stuff until looking it up (it’s Canada, after all). Belarus and Spain have both lost prime ministers recently as a result of corruption scandals. And while not a PM, former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe had a fair bit of [sleazy/comical history](http://bbc.com/news/uk-44336859). ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-third-world-nations-with-more-comical-leaders-than-trump-since-the-end-of-world-war-2/819824/9 "2018-08-18T14:51:13Z")
In terms of comicality, it’s got to be Berlusconi. Others might be as bad, maybe even as outrageous, but not as comical.