Late-night television hosts in the United States have delivered scathing critiques of former President Donald Trump, following what they described as "hateful and vile" comments made in the wake of a tragic murder and during a festive holiday event.
Kimmel's Fury Over Trump's Reiner Remarks
Opening his show on Monday evening, Jimmy Kimmel addressed a weekend of horrific news, including a terror attack in Australia, a mass shooting in Rhode Island, and the murder of acclaimed director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele. Kimmel stated that such events make one "wonder if things will ever feel good again," calling for compassion and leadership.
Instead, Kimmel said, the public received "a fool rambling about nonsense" from Trump. The former president took to his Truth Social platform to bizarrely claim the Reiners "passed away" due to "Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS)," suggesting the director's criticism was a fatal affliction.
"Just when you think he can’t go any lower, he somehow finds a way to do that," Kimmel responded with visible anger. He condemned Trump for insulting a murder victim and politicising a tragedy without knowing the facts, leaving children behind. Kimmel urged viewers who voted for Trump to reconsider, vowing to continue highlighting the "loathsome atrocities" from the former president's mouth.
Colbert and Meyers Mock Bizarre Christmas Tale
While Kimmel focused on the Reiner tragedy, Stephen Colbert turned his attention to Trump's storytelling at a White House Christmas party. Colbert recounted how Trump launched into a ten-minute tangent about deadly snakebites in Peru, claiming 28,000 people die annually from a specific viper.
Colbert dryly noted the odd festive choice, quipping, "This is a speech about Christmas." He also fact-checked the claim, revealing that official figures show only 10 snakebite deaths in Peru between 2000 and 2015. Colbert concluded by quoting Trump's own assessment of the story: "This is a terrible Christmas story."
Seth Meyers also tackled the serpentine saga on Late Night, joking that the anecdote had ruined Christmas for him. "The next time I walk into someone’s house for a Christmas party and see some green tinsel wrapped around the bannister, I’m going to go apeshit with a golf club," Meyers said.
Meyers further mocked Trump for advising parents not to buy their children too many dolls due to his tariffs, calling the advice outdated. He also criticised Fox News for seemingly abandoning its traditional "war on Christmas" rhetoric by advising viewers to cut back on gifts, even for grandma.
A Pattern of Controversial Commentary
The unified response from the late-night bloc underscores a continued focus on Trump's rhetoric. Kimmel's emotional monologue highlighted the human cost of what he sees as dehumanising political discourse, while Colbert and Meyers used satire to underscore the strange and often fact-free nature of Trump's public statements.
Trump later doubled down on his comments about Reiner, telling reporters at the White House that the director was "deranged" and "very bad for our country." This prompted Kimmel's final, stark warning to the audience about the influence of a "corroded brain" in charge of public life.
