The dust had barely settled in the chamber of the House of Representatives following President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address before the jokes and mockery were flying on the late-night talk shows. According to the Independent , hosts like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Trevor Noah had a field day picking apart the president’s much-anticipated speech, which was delayed by a week due to the government shutdown over Trump’s demand for funding for a wall on the southern border of the U.S.
Jimmy Kimmel launched into Trump’s signature campaign trail promise of that Mexican border wall, mocking what he called the president’s “exciting new ideas” on how to deal with immigration.
“Trump talked more about fighting aliens tonight than Sigourney Weaver.”
“For instance, did you know Mexicans are scary and we need to build a wall to keep them away?” Kimmel asked.
Kimmel also touched on the Trump administration’s ongoing attrition at the hands of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team – and Trump’s signature long ties.
“This was a long speech, a really long speech. His speech was longer than his tie,” Kimmel joked. “He spoke for so long, Robert Mueller handed down another five indictments.”
Over on the Late Night with Stephen Colbert , the host also mocked the lengthy, 80-minute speech, joking that for viewers it was “like watching paint lie.”
Colbert also took the president to task for the Mueller investigation and the staggering number of close Trump associates and former government appointees who are facing criminal charges.
“The State of the Union is always a big night,” Colbert said. “Everybody who was anybody who was not indicted was there.”
And in commenting on the president’s claims that if Democrats don’t end their “ridiculous partisan investigations,” the economy is going to pay the price – seemingly a veiled threat to shut down the government again. Colbert portrayed Trump as a hostage-taker.
“You heard me, you get the truth, or a functioning economy,” Colbert said. “Keep in mind, I turn off the government over a wall. You think I won’t burn this thing down to avoid jail?”
Trevor Noah of the Daily Show made fun of Trump’s appointment of Energy Secretary Rick Perry as his “designated survivor,” a relic of the cold war by which one cabinet member is waiting in the wings in a secure location in case catastrophe strikes and the entire government is wiped out while they’re all in the House for the State of the Union address.
“That’s right, if everyone was gone, Rick Perry would have been the president of the United States, which is fine,” Noah said.”He fulfills our new requirement for being president: he’s been on a reality show.”
