Late Night Braces for Trump 2.0

By
Bethy Squires,
a Vulture news blogger who covers comedy

Photo: NBCUniversal/YouTube

How are we all doing? How are the late night hosts coping with the fact they’re going to have to do approximately 4-infinity years of Trump comedy again? In the words of Dorinda Medley, “Not well, bitch.” Late Night With Seth Meyers, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, After Midnight, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! all had segments addressing the audience directly in the wake of Donald Trump’s election and Kamala Harris’s concession. The hosts were balancing their own despair with their roles as Guy Who Tells Us Jokes So We Can Sleep. Here’s how we’re all dealing.

“Welp!” That’s how Seth Meyers started Late Night. Meyers also joked about having gone to an election watch party. Can you imagine? He said watching results come in was “like Christmas Eve, if you know on Christmas morning, you’re either going to wake up to find that Santa left presents under the tree or to find that Santa just took a huge dump in your fireplace.” Meyers said doing his job, even under these circumstances, is a privilege. “This is a joyful place to work,” he said. “We’re not going to let anything take that joy away, even when we’re not talking about things that are not particularly joyful.” Meyers said the show’s mission is to find laughter and joy: “Let’s fucking go.”

Lydic got the second bite of the despair apple, as Jon Stewart was live last night. Lydic called the world a “waking nightmare,” “Looks like at this point, it’s starting to feel like we’re going to get every other first before we get a first woman president,” she said. “First Amish president, first Walhberg president. Hey, there’s no rule that says a dog can’t be president.” Also? the rules about who can or cannot be president appear to be constantly changing, so there’s that.

Tomlinson started out by offering her condolences to anyone who has a b-day this week. “I will say it is an honor to be on television while women are still allowed,” she said. Tomlinson said she started rewatching Game of Thrones to calm down, “like maybe this will give me some perspective.”

Colbert opened by admitting he’s doing “not great.” But he also expressed gratitude for having his job and getting to surround himself with so many funny people. “Some people said to me ‘Sorry you have to do a show tonight,’ which is nice of them to say. But I don’t have to do a show. I get to do a show tonight,” he said. “I’m so grateful to be with all these talented people.”

Jimmy Fallon compared Trump getting re-elected to people getting back with “their crazy ex.” He said “No matter who you voted for, we can all agree: it’s gonna be a rough Thanksgiving.” Fallon said it was a huge comeback “for someone who never went away.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live! started with a cold open where Kimmel said he was fleeing the country. Kimmel said last night was the worst Taco Tuesday of his life, and that Trump is like Emperor Palpatine: “He’s old, he’s evil, and he keeps coming back with no reasonable explanation.” Kimmel also said his son shouted “Fuck!” when he found out Trump won.

Late Night Braces for Trump 2.0