American television host Jimmy Fallon on Thursday mocked US President Donald Trump on his late night show following the indefinite suspension of comedian-host Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC late-night show and a scathing attack on Fallon and other fellow comedians by the Potus on Truth Social.
But his monologue came with a twist — every time Fallon took a dig at Trump, his negative comments were replaced with a voiceover complimenting the US President.
On Thursday’s episode, Fallon reassured the audience that he will continue poking fun at Trump’s UK visit despite concerns of his show getting censored or cancelled.
“A lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say, or that we’ll be censored, but I’m going to cover the president’s trip to the UK, just like I normally would,” the 50-year-old TV host said.
When Fallon began talking about Trump’s hair, a voiceover instantly undercut his voice, saying, “looked better than Conrad’s from The Summer I Turned Pretty.” While mentioning Jeffrey Epstein, the voiceover replaced “Epstein” with “Goldblum”. However, the sketch was followed by Fallon mocking Trump without a voiceover.
His monologue comes hours after Trump shifted his focus on comedian-television hosts Fallon and Seth Meyers, calling upon NBC to fire them Thursday.
Fallon also addressed the suspension of Kimmel’s ABC late-night show in the wake of comments he made about Charlie Kirk's killing.
“Well guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC, after pressure from the FCC leaving everyone thinking, ‘WTF,’” Fallon quipped. “But to be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on — no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, funny, and loving guy. And I hope he comes back,” he added.
Kimmel, the veteran late-night comic, made several comments about the reaction to Kirk's assassination on his show Monday and Tuesday nights. He said that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”.
Kimmel, like CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, has consistently been critical of Trump and many of his policies on his ABC show.
CBS said this past summer that it was cancelling Colbert's show at the end of this season for financial reasons, although some critics have wondered if his stance on Trump played a role.
NBC host Seth Meyers, who was named by Trump in a post on Truth Social Thursday, quipped about how much he respected the US President, calling him a “visionary” and “even better golfer”. He joked that any past criticism of Trump by him was a work of artificial intelligence.
Stephen Colbert condemned the FCC’s reported role in the suspension in his monologue, calling it a “blatant assault on the freedom of speech”.
“People across the country are shocked by this blatant assault,” he said while mocking Disney executives.
