On Monday, President Trump spoke at a rally in South Carolina, and went on a rant about late night talk show hosts. These shows have always mocked the president, but apparently their jokes have gotten under his skin. He called Jimmy Kimmel "terrible." He referred to Stephen Colbert as "that guy on CBS" and described him as a "lowlife." And he said Jimmy Fallon "looks like a lost soul." (Previously, he told Fallon to "stop whimpering" and "be a man" on Twitter.)
"The guy on CBS, what a lowlife. I mean honestly, are these people funny?" asked Trump. The crowd responded with a loud "nooo!" The president continued, "And I can laugh at myself. Frankly if I couldn't, I'd be in big trouble. But there's no talent. They're not like talented people. Johnny Carson was talented. I mean this guy on CBS, has no talent."
Last night Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Conan O'Brien teamed up to record a comic response to Trump's insults. In the pre-taped segment, Colbert sits at his desk writing a monologue, and gets a video call from Fallon. "Hey lowlife," says Fallon. "Hey lost soul," says Colbert. When they ask what each other is up to, Colbert says he's "busy having no talent." Fallon says he's "mostly whimpering. "Be a man," advises Colbert.
They go on to discuss the President Trump, claiming they haven't seen his rally. "I heard he said we’re all no-talent, lowlife, lost souls," says Fallon. "Well, that’s not right. That’s Conan," replies Colbert. He goes on to bring Conan O'Brien into the video. The pasty white TBS host is half-naked, in the middle of shaving, and doesn't have any idea what is going on in the world. "Donald Trump? The real estate guy who sells steaks? He’s president?" asks Conan.
At the end of the sketch, they agree to have lunch at Red Hen, the restaurant in Virginia that turned away White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
In the rare event, the segment was used as the cold open for both The Tonight Show and The Late Show, which air on different networks. According to CBS This Morning, Colbert came up with the idea for the sketch, and pitched it to Fallon. The Tonight Show host quickly agreed. Conan was on hiatus for the week, but also agreed to participate. (Jimmy Kimmel was on vacation this week, so was unavailable.)
Well, President Trump's polarizing polices are dividing the nation, but at least he's bringing the late night show hosts together.
In Colbert's monologue, he mocked Trump's rally speech some more. He pretended that "the guy on CBS" Trump referred to was Late Late Show host James Corden. Then he claimed Trump was "afraid" to say his name, because he was born in South Carolina, and is a "favorite son." Also, Colbert digs up a clip of Johnny Carson mocking Trump in his opening monologue! You'd think Trump would be able to take a joke after being mocked on late night talk shows for decades.
