Comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham believes Donald Trump’s recent re-election has lifted a burden off comedians, allowing them to return to more traditional, edgy routines without the fear of cancellation.

Dunham, known for his wildly popular puppet characters like Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Bubba J, and Walter, shared in an interview with Fox News Digital that Trump’s win has disrupted cancel culture, giving comedians renewed freedom to tell the kinds of jokes that once defined stand-up.

“But now with Trump back in office, just to me as a comedian, you just kind of felt this weight off your back… you feel like you can now joke about the things that we used to joke about,” Dunham said.

The Spark of Insanity tour star, who holds the Guinness World Record for the most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour (2007–2010), explained that in recent years, cancel culture has made it nearly impossible to talk about certain topics onstage.

Addressing political issues or simply speaking common sense, he said, often triggered backlash. Dunham described how comedy—one of the last forms of free speech—had been “really squelched.”

“And the fact that in the past few years that was tromped on, and almost really squelched – really was squelched – it’s just so refreshing right now to at least feel like it’s okay to do real stand-up comedy now,” he said.

For Dunham, a little controversy is key to great comedy.

“To me, a comedian takes it to the line,” he explained. “He knows his audience… You take it to the line and you step over it just a little bit. So to me, I’ve always believed that if I’m offending three to five percent of the room, that’s the entertainment that everybody else is laughing the hardest at.”

“And that’s why they keep coming back, because they’re hearing stuff that they don’t get to hear anywhere else.”

Over the years, Dunham has faced criticism for perpetuating stereotypes through his characters. Bubba J is a self-proclaimed redneck, José Jalapeño On a Stick is a Mexican pepper with a thick accent, and Achmed is a skeleton parody of a radical terrorist.

Dunham acknowledged the criticism but defended the intention behind the characters.

“Well, when it comes to the characters… inventing the character is responding to what’s going on… it’s responding to what’s going on in society and what I think the audience is to laugh at,” he said. “Same with the character. They have to be relatable. And people, as you know, accused me of having stereotypes of my characters. Like, yeah! That’s the point.”

He added, “You’ve got this grumpy old man. You’ve got this redneck… borderline white trash. Yeah, people understand that. And then they expect a certain kind of material and a certain personality, and that works for you. It’s just like a sitcom.”

Dunham doesn’t shy away from politics, either. His puppet Walter has taken shots at both Biden and Trump.

“So yeah, Walter dressed up like Trump, and then he dressed up like Biden with the videos,” Dunham said, describing the jokes as “good-natured fun.”

One of his edgiest characters, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, was born from post-9/11 satire. Dunham debuted the character just six miles from Ground Zero, refusing to try it out first in a less sensitive setting.

“I’m not going to go to Hawaii or Juneau, Alaska or somewhere in California to try this. I’m going to go where it counts,” he said. “And I was booked at a club called Bananas Comedy Club, six miles from Ground Zero.”

Initially, Dunham introduced the character as Osama bin Laden, and the crowd’s reaction was tense.

“It was like God took a vacuum and sucked all the air out of the room,” he recalled. But when he brought out the puppet—now a skeleton—and improvised the now-famous line, “I KILL YOU!” the mood flipped.

“I mean, it couldn’t have gone better, and it just went from there.”

Dunham also touched on California politics, expressing frustration with the state’s leadership.

“I just feel this beautiful state has been politically run into the ground. And it’s unfortunate because it’s one of the most beautiful states in the country,” he said.

Having lived in Los Angeles since the late ’80s, he said progressive policies have made life “ridiculous” in California. While many associate the state with liberal ideology, Dunham emphasized that a strong conservative community remains.

“You know, I live here too, and I’m going to vote the other way, and we have a chance of bringing the state back to some sort of sense of, of common sense,” he said.

Despite the challenges, he hasn’t left California, believing it can return to “some sense of normality and sanity.”

Reflecting on his newfound openness, Dunham admitted, “Would I have spoken this candidly a year ago? Probably not, because it was still kind of dangerous.”

But with Trump back in the White House, he sees a shift—and a bit more breathing room—for comedy to thrive again.

“Have we learned anything? Yes,” he concluded. “You don’t want to make fun of groups, and there’s certain topics and a line that you don’t want to cross. But I do think that it’s loosened up a little bit.”