Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel turned a contentious presidential interview into comedic material Monday, mocking President Donald Trump after the president walked off an NBC interview.
Trump sat down with "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker for what became a tense exchange rather than a substantive policy discussion. When Welker pressed Trump on his claims about election mishandling in California, the president grew frustrated and eventually walked away from the interview while accusing the media of being "crooked."
During his monologue on ABC, Kimmel dissected the interview with editing tricks and commentary. The centerpiece featured an edited visual effect depicting Trump in a diaper as he stormed off set, accompanied by Kimmel's observation: "You know what? When that dinner bell rings, he's gone."
Kimmel pivoted to the substance of Trump's frustration, noting the president had thrown a tantrum when challenged by a competent journalist. "Their talk ended in a full-blown Trumper tantrum," Kimmel said, before highlighting Trump's words to Welker: "You're either crooked or you're stupid."
Rain had repeatedly halted the NBC taping, and Kimmel seized on this detail to mock Trump's apparent sensitivity to disruption. "I don't know if he was worried about the cotton candy on his head getting wet or he just didn't like the fact that he was being taken to task by a woman," Kimmel said.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle dismissed Kimmel as "seriously unfunny," a response that underscored how effectively Kimmel had gotten the administration's attention.
Kimmel also critiqued Trump's appearance at Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, noting it created security disruptions affecting ordinary fans. Kimmel highlighted a contradiction: Trump claimed to be too busy managing international crises to attend his own son's wedding, yet found time to "swallow nachos at the Knicks game."
In the final segment, Kimmel turned to the Los Angeles mayoral race, where initial election night results favoring Republican Spencer Pratt were reversed as mail-in ballots were counted. Rather than simply mocking Trump's complaints about election fraud, Kimmel used the situation to illustrate the absurdity of such claims. "The Democrats rigged the election," Kimmel deadpanned, "and they rigged it by having Republicans take the lead at first."
