America's late-night hosts can't get past Trump's revealing Charlottesville press conference
"Mind you, this is him on vacation — he can't even get vacation right!"


President Trump's news conference on Tuesday was still the top story on Wednesday, and the top topic of conversation on late-night TV. On The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon shifted from sorrow to tragicomic mirth about Trump's comments on Charlottesville. "Mind you, this is him on vacation — he can't even get vacation right!" Fallon said. "Imagine coming back to the office, 'Hey, how was your two-week break?' 'It was good. I defended Nazis. What'd you do?'" Trump seems to be getting "loopy," he added. "I guess this morning Trump went to the Trump Tower lost-and-found looking for his mind."
"It's crazy — I'm starting to miss the old days when we were on the verge of war with North Korea," Fallon said. He showed the photo of Chief of Staff John Kelly listening to Trump, head bowed, then played a highlight reel of other people standing uncomfortably behind Trump while he's speaking, followed by an edited-together reel of what Trump should have said on Tuesday, and a fake ad for Trump Winery.
On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel suggested that Trump "couldn't help but to defend Nazis and Klan members and white supremacy — he just couldn't hold it in," adding, "It was an absolute train wreck, even for him." He laughed at Trump tweeting that he was disbanding his emptying business advisory councils "like a kid who cancels his birthday party because only the clown showed up. 'You can't break up with me, I'm breaking up with you first.'" But nobody on his staff has quit, and in fact many are trying to defend him from the racism charges, some more successfully than others (ahem, Michael Cohen). Kimmel ended by interviewing a Kellyanne Conway puppet.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Late Show's Stephen Colbert said "Donald Trump drove America's moral leadership right through the guardrails" on Tuesday, after grudgingly saying the right thing on Monday. After Trump said what he truly felt on Tuesday, he added, "everywhere in this country, people were horrified: North, South; Republican, Democrat; top, bottom; sweet, sour. But do you know who loved what Donald Trump said? Donald Trump." The president was reportedly elated after his press conference, saying he felt liberated — "emancipated," even, Colbert suggested, slipping into this Trump voice: "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I am free at last. You like that? Melania wrote that. She's very good."
On Late Night, Seth Meyers spent most of his "Closer Look" segment arguing that Trump "showed us again who he really is: a lying racist who's desperate for praise," taking special issue with Trump's assertion that "very fine people" participated in the Tiki-torch parade. "No, there are no fine people marching with Nazis and white supremacists," he said. "No one gets accidentally caught up in a white supremacist rally, it just doesn't happen — except for that one time on Seinfeld...."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The state of Britain's Armed Forces
The Explainer Geopolitical unrest and the unreliability of the Trump administration have led to a frantic re-evaluation of the UK's military capabilities
By The Week UK
-
Anti-anxiety drug has a not-too-surprising effect on fish
Under the radar The fish act bolder and riskier
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Sudoku medium: April 21, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK