Barney Frank Thinks The West Wing Gets Politics Right

Former congressman Barney Frank appeared on Conan Thursday night, and the late night comedian asked Frank about his opinions on television shows based on American politics. “Game of Thrones is pretty much about Washington,” Conan joked.

Frank, a rather well-known hater of Netflix series House of Cards, reiterated just how unrealistic Frank Underwood and his presidency antics are. He said:

I would ban House of Cards from being shown. It is the most inaccurate, misleading [show], and unfortunately it gives people a bad idea. We suffer from people saying ‘what’s the point of voting? It doesn’t do any good, none of them can be trusted,’ and House of Cards just reinforces all of the inaccurate impressions.

First of all, we’re not that evil, secondly, we’re not that clever…If the guy from House of Cards was in the escape room, he’d have been out of there in a minute and a half, which isn’t real life.

So House of Cards is a no-go for Barney Frank, but if you’re going to watch anything about a fictional Washington, he thinks it should be West Wing. He told Conan:

The best show every done about politics is The West Wing.

In West Wing, you have real people trying to do the right thing, stubbing their toe and getting it wrong, then getting it right. So West Wing is by far the best. House of Cards is negative.

Sure, West Wing probably is a more redeeming example of American politics, but the fun in House of Cards is that cut-throat drama that West Wing kind of lacks. It’s like the 2015, amped-up version of West Wing. Every kitten grows up to be a cat, ain’t that right?