SCOTT LUDWIG: Who needs comedians these days, anyway?

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then, dumb and silent, we may be led, like sleep to the slaughter.”

That quote can be attributed to George Washington, the Father of our Country. He must be rolling in his grave right about now. Last July, CBS announced it would be ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next May and that it was “purely a financial decision.”

Loosely translated, it meant the Trump administration – and one person in particular – was tired of being humorously raked over the coals by the host of the show.

Two months later, ABC indefinitely pulled the plug on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show because of his comments regarding the killing of a conservative activist. In other words, the same reason CBS decided to end Colbert’s show.

As for NBC’s Seth Myers and HBO’s Bill Maher, two other notably outspoken critics of the president and his bootlickers, it’s only a matter of time. The countdown has already begun. It’s the same old song: Trump putting up another smoke screen for the Epsteinth time.

However, like it or not, political comedy is slowly and methodically being silenced. Forget the First Amendment. Once upon a time, Elon Musk threw out this grim warning: “If we lose freedom of speech, it’s never coming back.” A premonition, perhaps, or maybe he just knew what loomed on the horizon.

Suddenly we’re seeing glimpses of what took place in Germany, circa 1933. Speak ill of the current administration and be silenced. Soon there will be no one left to poke fun at their ridiculous comments and antics.

But, if you think about it, do we really need the comedians for that? Doesn’t Trump and his pander bears already do a pretty good job of that all by themselves? Isn’t all we really need is someone to point the camera and hit the record button whenever one of them so much as opens their mouth?

Then, in lieu of an opening monologue for the late night shows, simply present a video montage of whatever happened that day. Because whatever it was, there’s a pretty good chance it will be good for a few laughs.

How about simply using some of Trump’s quotes for comic relief? Like this one: “Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports …”

There’s more where that came from, like his comments about windmills causing cancer, injecting bleach to combat COVID, and sweeping forests to prevent forest fires. “The wettest hurricane ever, in terms of water.” As if there was something else besides water that could make hurricanes wet.

“I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things.” He was referring to foreign policy, of which he demonstrably knows little about (to wit: his Alaskan peace talks with Putin).

Remember transgender mice? That was Trump. DEI being responsible for airplane crashes? Trump. The idea to buy Greenland? Trump. Calling himself the Father of IVF? You got it, Trump. The trick when it comes to Trump, of course, is just letting him talk until he trips over his own … words.

Here’s the latest. When pressed to respond to something dumb someone in his administration has said or done, his go-to response is now to deny knowing anything about it – as if everyone would just take his word for it.

Here’s another idea that’s good for some laughs: a video montage of Trump saying – over and over again, as he is prone to do – “like nobody’s ever seen.” Whether it’s a reference to something that’s already happened, something that will take place in the future, or the number of Extra Value Meals from McDonald’s he intends to eat for lunch, a compilation of Trump saying it over and over (and over) again would be an absolute hoot.

Comedy abounds, and we haven’t even mentioned some of the other jokes in the White House. The three stooges, for example: Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. All three should have their profiles beside the word “incompetent” in the dictionary. Just saying their names out loud along with their titles makes me laugh.

How about this: A sitcom starring Donald Trump. His leading lady could be one of any number of women in the Republican party. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example. With her track record – Jewish space lasers, Gaspacho police, peach tree (petri) dish – selecting her as his costar is practically a no-brainer.

Her wardrobe alone – the garish red outfit with a red MAGA hat she wore at one of Joe Biden’s State of the Union Addresses, for example – would give the audience even more to laugh at. Can you imagine the roar from the audience if she appeared in the Cruella de Vil outfit she wore at one of Biden’s other SOTU addresses?

Here’s one final idea. Show actual quotes from past presidents followed by a quote from the current one. Try these two on for size: JFK: “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Trump: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. This is what’s happening in our country.”

(Cue the laugh track.)

ABC lifted Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension after one week. Speculation is that it was purely a financial decision (sound familiar?), as many consumers were ending their subscriptions to Disney’s streaming services. Disney is ABC’s parent company..