Aaron Sorkin, the creator of NBC’s The West Wing, has recently remarked that Republicans are no longer “reasonable” people, stating that the fictional GOP characters he wrote for the show would seem alien to today’s viewers. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sorkin failed to mention any of the policies put forth by Democrats under Kamala Harris, which have allowed more than 10 million undocumented immigrants to enter the country and receive taxpayer-funded benefits not available to actual U.S. citizens.
Additionally, he neglected to address the Democratic Party’s support for defunding the police and providing sex-change operations for children. Sorkin was asked how The West Wing would be received by viewers today during the interview. He responded by saying that the current political climate in the United States has rendered it implausible for the opposition party, the Republican Party, to be viewed as reasonable. People would watch that and it would be unfamiliar to them as the country that they live in,” Sorkin explained.
The series, which depicted a fictional Democratic presidential administration led by Martin Sheen’s character, President Josiah Bartlet, aired from 1999 to 2006. Since its conclusion, The West Wing has remained a source of sentimental fondness for many Democrats. For some, the show represents more than just nostalgia—it serves as a vicarious role-playing experience that allows left-wing political types in Washington D.C. to live out their fantasies of being one of Sorkin’s virtuous Democratic characters.
One of The West Wing’s most memorable GOP characters was Ainsley Hayes (played by Emily Procter), a lawyer and pundit who breaks with her party to join President Bartlet’s administration as White House counsel. For many non-leftist viewers, the character of Ainsley Hayes embodies Sorkin’s construct of what a “good” Republican would be like: often siding against her own party on matters of principle, with the implication being that the only “reasonable” Republicans are Democrats in disguise.
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