Late night hosts find the comedic upside in Biden's inflation woes and Trump's Jan. 6 beatdown

The Labor Department just revealed that consumer prices rose the most in 30 years last month, Seth Meyers said on Wednesday's Late Night. "Okay, how much more bad news is Biden gonna get? At the end of the month we're gonna find out the turkey he pardoned was at the Capitol on Jan. 6." Meanwhile, he added, "it was announced today that actor Paul Rudd is People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, reclaiming the title he first received in 1938."
The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon news-smashed Rudd's new title, Adele's new song, the supply chain problems, and Arby's bizarre new vodka product. "Well, the holidays are coming up," and because of labor shortages, "malls are desperate to find Santas," he said. "Today, in fact, Macy's put out a bowl of whiskey outside the store like they were trying to lure a stray cat."
"Speaking of old fat men in red hats," former President Donald Trump's latest effort to escape accountability for the Jan. 6 riot was dashed when "a federal judge denied his attempt to withhold records from the Jan. 6 committee," Stephen Colbert said on The Late Show. "That is the worst denial for the former president since anytime he tried to hold his wife's hand," but "then the judge delivered the knock-out blow, writing 'Presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president," he added. "Damn, I have not seen such a brutal attack on an elected official since Jan. 6."
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"The last time Trump got a spanking like that was with a copy of Forbes magazine by Stormy Daniels," Jimmy Kimmel joked on Kimmel Live. "At this point Trump's lawyers are like the losingest team in history of any team ever." He brought out the Silver Lining Singers to look on the bright side of inflation, COVID-19, and other glum topics.
"Some critics are saying that America's inflation problems are President Biden's fault," but "almost every country in the world is dealing with this issue," Trevor Noah noted on The Daily Show. Whatever the cause, "this is a big danger to Biden politically, because inflation is one of the economic concepts that normal people actually care about." Roy Wood Jr. illustrated that point.
"It's rare that I celebrate happy things on this show," Samantha Bee said on Full Frontal. But "Biden's infrastructure bill is a major victory — it's the largest public works bill since Eisenhower created the interstate system. Incredibly, he built it all on his own. That man could not delegate."
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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.
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