Jimmy Kimmel on court’s dismissal of Trump’s immunity defense: ‘A devastating moment’ – The Guardian
Late-night hosts discuss ruling in federal election subversion case and bets placed on Taylor Swift for the Super Bowl
Late-night hosts anticipated potential consequences for Donald Trump’s role in January 6, and also looked ahead to the Super Bowl. One in four Americans – about 68 million people – are expected to bet on Sunday’s big game. “And when I say bet on the game, I mean bet on Taylor Swift,” said Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday evening.
Among the things people can bet on: what color top Swift will wear, whether Travis Kelce will propose and win MVP, and whether or not Swift will be shown eating a hot dog. “Let me say that there is no more important conversation a father can have with his child than sitting them down and explaining that he can’t go to college because Taylor Swift did not eat a hot dog at the Super Bowl in 2024,” Kimmel joked.
In political news, a federal appeals court in Washington DC unanimously rejected Trump’s claim of immunity from all criminal charges during his presidency in a scathing 57-page ruling. “It was a devastating moment for Trump, especially when Melania started clapping,” Kimmel quipped.
“Of course, he will now appeal to the supreme court, which is the legal equivalent of ‘well, I need to speak to your manager,’” he added. It’s unclear if the US supreme court will hear the case; if not, the current ruling stands.
And according to a new poll from CNN, a majority of Americans want to see a verdict in the January 6 case before they vote in the election. “Yes, it’s vitally important that we find out if the former president did what we all saw him do on television or not,” Kimmel deadpanned.
Meanwhile, Trump is pressuring GOP senators to reject a deal on border security that they themselves secured, to help his campaign chances. “Basically, he wants chaos at the border so that come election time, he can be the only one who can stop it,” Kimmel explained. “And they’re going along with it, which is crazy.
“Most of the Republicans like this but Trump didn’t, so now they’re trying to kill it,” he concluded. “It’s like Mike Pence all over again.”
“There’s not a lot of suspense in the primaries this year,” said Stephen Colbert on the Late Show. “But there was big news today from the one voting bloc who could sway the 2024 election: federal judges.”
He referred to the DC appeals court’s rejection of Trump’s immunity claim. “The law applies to everyone!” Colbert chanted. “Lowest bar! Lowest bar!
“So it’s official: former presidents are not immune from prosecution,” he continued. “Now, that should be obvious, but it’s never actually been tested in court because no former president until Trump has been indicted.”
The judges “quickly pointed out the stupid in Trump’s idiocy”. Colbert said, quoting the opinion: “It would be a striking paradox if the President, who alone is vested with the constitutional duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’, were the sole officer capable of defying those laws with impunity.”
“Yes! That’s why the Ten Commandments don’t read ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery. Except for Moses, who gets a heavenly hall pass to part that sea, if y’know what I’m saying,’” Colbert joked.
And on Late Night, Seth Meyers also addressed the failure of Trump’s immunity strategy for his role in January 6. “OK, so he doesn’t have immunity. But after all these trials, he must have built up some antibodies,” Meyers joked.
Speaking about the doomed immigration bill, Biden said Republican lawmakers needed to ask themselves: “Who do they serve: Donald Trump, or the American people?”
“And Republican lawmakers said they’ll get back to him on that, they just have to make a quick phone call,” Meyers quipped.
In other news, the former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci said if Trump pays $370m in penalties for his New York civil fraud trial, he may be forced to liquidate assets and take on loans. “Which would be crazy, because Trump hasn’t had to do that since the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s and a few times last week,” Meyers deadpanned.
And the Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she requested Secret Service protection, “because then at least there will be a couple of people at her rallies”, said Meyers.