'Veep' producer explains why US 2024 election is 'deadly serious'

26 July 2024

In Armando Iannucci's HBO comedy "Veep," former "Seinfeld" and "Saturday Night Live" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus played a fictional vice president, Selina Meyer, who went on to become president of the United States when a fictional male president decided against seeking reelection.

"Veep" debuted in 2012 and ended in 2019, and the following year, the United States really did elect its first female vice president: Kamala Harris. And with President Joe Biden having decided against seeking reelection, Harris is now the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.

In an op-ed published by the New York Times on July 26, the Glasgow, Scotland-born Iannucci discusses the parallels between "Veep" and real-life events.

"As soon as President Biden dropped out of the race, leaving his vice president to take on the candidacy, a pile-on of news organizations tracked me down to ask for comment," Iannucci explains. "They weren't after any insights on Kamala Harris' campaign — I have none — but instead, wanted to know how I felt now that events were tracking the main story line of my HBO show 'Veep.'"

Iannucci goes on to lament that U.S. politics have become too entertainment-like.

"For 24 hours," the "Veep" creator notes, "the mainstream media asked if I was pleased with the comparison. This is the first time I'm setting out a definitive answer to that question, and the answer is: No, I'm not."

Iannucci continues, "I'm extremely worried! Not about Ms. Harris. I'm sure she’ll inject much-needed sharpness into the campaign. What worries me is that politics has become so much like entertainment that the first thing we do to make sense of the moment is to test it against a sitcom."

Iannucci argues that the 2024 Republican National Convention was too entertainment-minded at a time when the United States is dealing with a range of serious issues.

"The stuff happening out there right now is madder than 'Veep' and deadly serious," Iannucci writes. "These are real events, not melodramatic fictions, and they have a real impact on our lives. Depending on who wins, either we'll continue our attempts to halt global warming, or we'll sit back and melt in our sleep."

Iannucci adds, "America's legal and electoral systems will either function on behalf of its people or continue to be shaped in the image of those who can afford the most annoyingly persistent lawyer."

Armando Iannucci's full New York Times op-ed is available at this link (subscription required).

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