Jimmy Kimmel Turns Former President Donald Trump’s Infamous Quote Against Him Following Fraud Ruling
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel didn’t hold back when it came to addressing the latest legal developments surrounding former President Donald Trump. With New York Attorney General Letitia James vowing to seize Trump’s assets if he fails to pay a $355 million fine in his civil fraud case, Kimmel grabbed the opportunity to use one of Trump’s own infamous quotes against him. During a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel quipped, "It will be refreshing to see a woman grabbing his assets for a change." His clever wordplay was a direct reference to Trump’s derogatory comments about women, specifically his infamous 2005 ‘Access Hollywood’ video where he bragged about grabbing women "by the pu---."
Kimmel didn’t stop there, he continued his jab at Trump by jokingly mimicking the former president’s language saying, “I’ll tell you something. When you’re attorney general, they let you do it. You don’t even ask. You just seize. You grab ’em by the property.” The use of Trump’s own words to mock him added a layer of irony to the situation, emphasizing the contrast between Trump’s past behavior and the potential consequences he now faces.
While Kimmel’s humor often targets political figures, he also found himself embroiled in legal drama of his own at the start of the week. Kimmel revealed that he was facing a fraud lawsuit from George Santos, a former congressman and a consistent target of Kimmel’s jokes. The lawsuit originated from messages Kimmel’s show sent to Santos through the Cameo app, where users can purchase personalized videos from celebrities. Kimmel revealed, “We wrote some absolutely ridiculous messages for him to read, we gave him a credit card number, and sure enough he recorded the messages and sent them back to us, and now he’s suing. He says we deceived him under the guise of fandom, soliciting personalized videos only to then broadcast these on national television. And if there’s one thing George Santos will not stand for, it’s using a fake name under false pretenses.”
As per HuffPost, despite the legal challenges, Kimmel appeared unfazed, even finding humor in the current situation. He compared the lawsuit to being sued for paternity by Nick Cannon and made fun of Santos’ claim of being deceived. Kimmel exclaimed, “He says he thought these were real messages and that he was duped. He’s being represented by the prestigious law firm of Pot, Kettle, and Black. This is so good. This is like getting sued for paternity by Nick Cannon.” Shifting back his focus to Trump’s legal troubles, Kimmel discussed the hefty penalty imposed on the former president in his civil fraud trial. Kimmel remarked, “Basically, what he got dinged for is claiming his assets were worth a lot more than they’re worth when he needed to get the loan, and claiming the same assets were worth less when it came to paying taxes. Trump now claims his assets are worth “more than the more he originally lied about them being worth”.
As per The Guardian, Trump claimed on his social media platform, Truth Social, “I have substantially UNDERSTATED my assets in the Financial Statements, not overstated them.” Kimmel took the opportunity to slam Trump, saying, “Well, that’s good news — then you won’t have any trouble paying that $450m fine.” With his sharp wit and clever wordplay, Kimmel kept his audience entertained while offering biting commentary on the latest developments in politics and pop culture.
