(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) The political satire TV series Veep became more popular after Joe Biden announced that he was ending his reelection campaign and endorsing Kamala Harris as the new candidate for the Democratic Party.
The Daily Wire reported that, even though the Emmy Award-winning HBO series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus ended in 2019, many clips have been circulating since Biden’s announcement, with people comparing the fictional character Selina Meyer to Harris.
On July 22, 2024, the series’ viewership increased by 353% compared to the day before. On July 21, 2024, Biden announced he was dropping out. Viewers watched 2.2 million minutes of the series on MAX the day after the announcement. The day before that, it was only 486,000 total minutes.
Last year, Harris mentioned the show during an interview with Stephen Colbert, claiming that there are “bits of [the show] that are actually quite accurate” and saying she was a fan of Louis-Dreyfus.
“[Biden] is really a true partner, and he understands that job. He’s an extraordinary leader and I wish people could see what I see because there’s only one person who sits behind that Resolute Desk. And the decisions that person has to make are the decisions that nobody else in the country can make. And he’s an extraordinary leader. He really is,” she said.
The show’s creator, Armando Iannucci, responded earlier this week to fans who pointed out similarities between the comedy series and current politics.
“Let’s remind ourselves that #Veep has already written a fictional version of this script… Kamala *inherits* the actual presidency. Then runs. The electoral college is tied. The [House] vote is tied, [which] means the Senate has to choose the tie-breaking candidate. And that ends up with… JD Vance as POTUS (Nb this is DRAMA …),” one of the fans wrote.
Iannucci responded to the comment by pointing out that the show is fictional.
“Don’t forget we made all that up, though,” he said, adding in another of his comments that we are still “working on the ending.”
The news source reported that, in the show, the president resigns, leaving Meyer to ascend the office herself and later launch her campaign.
