Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.

Vidal’s quip fuses media criticism with electoral skepticism. By pairing “never read a newspaper” with “never voted for President,” he implies that civic participation without basic engagement with public information is not necessarily virtuous. The punchline—hoping it is “the same half”—suggests that the least informed citizens are also the least politically active, a deliberately elitist provocation meant to sting. It reflects Vidal’s broader satirical posture toward American mass politics: elections can become exercises in manipulation when large portions of the electorate are disengaged from serious reporting or public affairs. The line is less a statistical claim than a rhetorical jab at complacency and anti-intellectualism in democratic culture.