Jimmy Kimmel used his post-election night monologue to work through his emotions, and much of the country’s, after Donald Trump won his second bid at re-election.
The 56-year-old Emmy winner opened Wednesday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” reeling after Trump won out against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrants who make this country go,” said the Brooklyn native, as he paused to compose himself.
“For healthcare, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech. It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on social security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO, for the truth and democracy and decency.”
Kimmel added that Trump’s win won’t just hurt Harris’ supporters but his as well.
“You just don’t realize it yet,” he said to applause. “But it was a really good night for Putin and for polio and for billionaires like Elon Musk. … It doesn’t mean we give up, but it also doesn’t mean we storm the Capitol because we don’t like the result.”
Kimmel said that, like many people, he was struggling to find a silver lining.
“The best I can come up with is, we’ve been through this once before, and yes, this time it is probably gonna be worse, maybe a lot worse,” he said. “But I also think we will look back and realize that in the long run, this is what we needed to wake us up. Maybe the people who care so much about him need to find out how little he cares about them.”
Kimmel added that he hopes Trump does honor his word “about stopping wars and imposing tariffs and how he’s gonna crush inflation and cut taxes.
“I hope his next unpredictable act is to reach across the aisle and do something positive. The bar’s low. He has an opportunity to win us over,” said Kimmel. “Maybe this time he’ll shock us and do some productive things. He won’t, probably, but he could. Or maybe the only good part of all this is he can’t run again in 2028.”
Kimmel also joked that he hopes Trump will “let me share a prison cell with Taylor Swift.
“We’ll see how funny that is in six months, when the great talk show host roundup begins,” he said.
