"We are now living in a world of 'alternative facts'" where "the president makes statements almost every day that aren't necessarily based in truth," Jimmy Kimmel said on Tuesday's Kimmel Live. That's "frustrating to some people and confusing to others, especially young people," he added. "You know, we're raised to believe that the president tells the truth, but that isn't necessarily the case anymore. And so, to bring children up to date on the new American way, we took a cue from Schoolhouse Rock! — you remember Schoolhouse Rock? — and hopefully this will explain how it all works now."
If you do remember Schoolhouse Rock!, the experiment in animated civics education, this is a kind of painful thing to watch. But the Trump presidency has been its own sort of crash course in American government, and like the original, there's something to be learned from the parody. Peter Weber
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.
-
Jeffrey Epstein's secretsFeature Six years after his death, conspiracy theories still swirl around the sex trafficker. Why?
-
Voting: Trump's ominous war on mail ballotsFeature Donald Trump wants to sign an executive order banning mail-in ballots for the 2026 midterms
-
School phone bans: Why they're spreadingFeature 17 states are imposing all-day phone bans in schools
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in ZürichThe Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
