How Tim Allen Responded to Joe Biden Joke Backlash

By Stephen Andrew

Tim Allen faced some criticism after a recent joke about Joe Biden, and the comedian subsequently responded to the. In a tweet, the Santa Clause franchise star noted his nearly 40-year "stand up career" and referenced a quote by late comic Richard Pryor. "I never met anybody who said when they were a kid, I wanna grow up to be a critic," reads the quote from Pryor, whom Allen also referred to as a "genius."

The new post came just days after Allen faced some heat for tweeting a joke about the current U.S. President. "Biden was on 60 minutes. I heard he asked how long the show was," the comedian tweeted on Sept. 19. Many were not fans of the joke, with one person tweeting back, "You're trying out decades old open mic one liners at this stage of your career?" Allen certainly has had his supporters as well, with one fan replying, "Keep doing what you are doing. There will always be haters."

Allen has been clear about his positions over the past few years, and even spoke with IndieWire in 2018 to offer insight s to how the FOX revival of his sitcom Last Man Standing chose to approach political perspectives. "I've always said that, certainly, relationships are politics. The political discourse between a male and female energy is politics. And children, that's all political stuff," Allen said.

He continued, "I like to mess around because I've been a standup fiery comic for 30 years. And I like pissing people off, and I said there's nothing, especially in this area, that pisses people off more than a very funny conservative. A smart, funny conservative that takes shots and is certainly self-effacing. The left-wing point of view is so pervasive that they don't even realize it's a point of view. It is just a point of view. I think this character likes that, he likes to have another point of view. It makes him sharper and more interesting. But we don't push it. I don't think we've mentioned pro or con Trump once now."

He also distanced himself from the specific politics of his character on the show, Mike Baxter. "My constant comment is, Bryan Cranston isn't actually a meth dealer. Keanu Reeves didn't kill 109 people," Allen said, referring to Cranston's Breaking Bad character, and Reeves' John Wick franchise. "These are actors. I don't know where it got confusing."

The comedian added, "I've done interviews where I have to ask, 'Are you asking my character this question?' I did an interview and I said, 'Are you asking Mike Baxter this question, because you heard something about the Clintons that the writers had written?' Now, I'll put something behind it, because I think it's funny to make fun of people that are full of themselves. Liberals have a very small window of sense of humor about themselves, so I love poking at it."

Allen went on to say, "Two years ago, it was the conservatives, or whatever it is. But right now liberals, particularly progressives, hide behind large concepts. If you don't agree with them, if you don't agree with that position, then you hate women, and you hate gay people, and you hate pro-choice people, whatever. And I said that doesn't fit. But I like pushing that and sometimes these guys let Mike Baxter say it, and he's more of a pragmatist."

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