Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel laugh seriously at Trump calling the 'moron' story 'fake news'

Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel laugh at Trump's "Fake News"

(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live)

published 6 October 2017

President Trump reportedly fumed for two hours when he read NBC News' report Wednesday morning that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had called him a "moron," then got even angrier when Tillerson did not directly deny having said that. "He vehemently would rather not answer that question," Stephen Colbert said on Thursday's Late Show. Still, Tillerson did categorically deny ever considering resigning, a claim Trump picked up on in a Thursday morning tweet in which he criticized NBC News for not verifying their "Fake News" with him first. After thinking of some stories Trump might not be the best source for verification on — think Barack Obama's birth certificate — Colbert said that Tillerson's job appears to be safe, thanks to a career "suicide pact" he reportedly made with Defense Secretary James Mattis and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

In The Late Show's opening skit, Mnuchin did not seem overly thrilled about the suicide pact.

On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel noted the riposte to Trump's verification tweet from MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle, who helped break the "moron" story: "Sir, we didn't need to verify that he called you a 'moron.' He did it behind your back." More generally, Kimmel took issue with Trump calling anything fake news. "No one, no breathing human on the planet Earth produces more fake news than Donald Trump," he said, noting that PolitiFact says only 5 percent of Trump's statements are "true." "Donald Trump is a tornado of fake news, he's the Michael Jordan-Elvis Presley-and-Great Wall of China of fake news combined, okay? Donald Trump criticizing fake news is like Hugh Hefner criticizing fake breasts." Watch below. Peter Weber