LAUGHINGSTOCK:

Known for his countless appearances on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and his recurring role as sportswriter Andy on "Everybody Loves Raymond," Kindler has also established a niche as an ombudsman of sorts for the business of comedy. Since 1996, he's given a "State of the Industry" speech, which he describes as "part rant, part roast," at the annual Just for Laughs festival, which is in the midst of its final and busiest week in Montreal.

Kindler, standing before fellow comics, journalists and Hollywood insiders, unabashedly bashes comedians he feels have lost the funny. In his often controversial opinions, that includes everyone from Jay Leno to Ricky Gervais, with whom he's had a years-long feud.

And he looks at developments beyond the comedians, which in recent years include the shadow that US President Donald Trump has cast on the comedy business. Kindler believes Trump's influence is surprisingly positive.

"When he first got elected, everyone was depressed. But now that he's so overtly a racist, it's actually great for comedy," Kindler said.

By the time President Trump arrived in El Paso on Wednesday, on the second leg of a trip to meet with people affected by mass shootings in two cities, he was frustrated that his attacks on his political adversaries had resulted in more coverage than the cheery reception he received at a hospital in Dayton, Ohio, the first stop on his trip. So he screamed at his aides to begin producing proof that in El Paso people were happy to see him.

One of those people was Tito Anchondo, who had lost his brother and sister-in-law, Andre and Jordan Anchondo, when a gunman opened fire on a Walmart last Saturday and killed 22 people. Mr. Anchondo traveled to the University Medical Center of El Paso on Wednesday to meet Mr. Trump, and as the president stood by and flashed a thumbs-up during a White House photo opportunity, the first lady, Melania Trump, cradled Mr. Anchondo's 2-month-old nephew, whose parents had both been gunned down. [...]

The episode was one result of Mr. Trump's frustration over his news coverage and of the angry reaction that by the end of the trip had led to a mishmash of White House-distributed photographs, tweets and videos that focused on the president instead of people affected by the shootings.

Mr. Trump first became aware of the negative headlines watching television aboard Air Force One, and bellowed at the small coterie of advisers traveling with him, including Mick Mulvaney, his acting chief of staff. He was especially upset after he saw footage of a news conference held by Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, and Mayor Nan Whaley of Dayton, a Democrat, but no positive images of himself while visiting Dayton's Miami Valley Hospital.  [...]

Part of the concern that some of Mr. Trump's advisers had heading into Wednesday was that the president would veer off script, and they wanted to make the visits as brief as possible, said those familiar with what took place.

Their concerns were given weight when raw video posted by someone at University Medical Center circulated on Twitter, showing Mr. Trump talking up his rally crowds and comparing himself to Beto O'Rourke, the former Democratic congressman from El Paso who is running for president.

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