After Donald Trump fired Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Thursday, Jimmy Kimmel was having the last laugh. On Thursday night’s edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the late night host poked some fun at the embattled Noem, who was finally let go after several scandals.
That included her claim that Trump approved her $220 million border security advertising campaign that was seen as self-promotional; a multi-million-dollar jet fleet paid for by border funds; her relationship with top aide Corey Lewandowski; and how she falsely called Alex Pretti, the Minnesota man killed by ICE agents, was a “domestic terrorist.
In his opening monologue, Kimmel pointed out that this felt like the latest installment of a Trump scripted TV show — and in this case, a “Game of Thrones” moment.
“Today – we had a red wedding on that TV show,” he said. “A shocking elimination on the ‘Celebrity Appresident,’ as Trump finally fired a member of his cabinet. It’s the first one of his second term.”
Kimmel noted that the now-former Secretary of Homeland Security was let go after “two disastrous hearings in the House and Senate” and was now, as Trump explained, “‘…moving to be Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere.’”
What, exactly, is that? “I think I speak for all of us when I say, we wish Kristi luck in her brand-new, completely made-up job,” Kimmel quipped. “It’s interesting – Trump was said to be particularly unhappy with Noem’s testimony claiming that he signed off on a $220 million ad campaign that featured her in commercials wearing different outfits, rounding up immigrants and riding a horse.
“Trump claims he didn’t know anything about it. Even though we all knew everything about it. But you know him, he doesn’t watch much television.”
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Kimmel knows that’s not true, and directly addressed him: “Hi, President Trump, how are ya!”
Kimmel also pointed out that not long before she got the boot, Noem and the DHS had been pushing back against criticism of those commericials, calling them “the most successful ad campaign in U.S. history.”
Asked the host: “Even more than ‘Where’s the Beef?’ More than ‘Whazzzzup!’? I don’t know – if that’s true, that’s very impressive. You know, the funniest thing would be if they deport her to El Salvador.”
Kimmel then added that Trump’s replacement for Noem was Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin — a former MMA fighter and a plumber.
“According to White House staffers, Trump ‘loves watching him on TV,’” Kimmel said. “I agree. I love watching him on TV too… in the same way I loved watching Honey Boo Boo on TV.”
Also in the monologue, Kimmel noted that according to polls, a majority of Americans are not in favor of the war on Iran, and that “a majority of Americans think Trump is making the U.S. less safe. But that is according to a poll from those radical left-wing lunatics at Fox News.”
And he also noted that of the more than 47,000 documents “that mysteriously vanished from the government’s website, some of these missing files contain disturbing allegations against a person who for legal reasons I can’t say his name, but he’s currently the President.” Those missing files have finally been published — and include a transcript of the accuser’s interviews.
As Kimmel noted: “Can you imagine if the DOJ had been holding FBI interviews with a woman who claimed that Joe Biden sexually assaulted her when she was a young teenager? It would be rage boner-palooza at Fox News.”
Watch the monologue here:
From Variety US