Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers shred the GOP's latest excuses for Trump's ballooning Ukraine scandal

Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers on Trump&#039;s Ukraine excuses

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

"Between [President] Trump and Joker, it was quite a weekend for villains in a lot of makeup," Jimmy Kimmel said on Monday's Kimmel Live. "A second whistle has blown" in the Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiry, "and there are said to be multiple other whistleblowers waiting in the wings," he said. The White House had trouble finding anyone willing to defend Trump on the Sunday talk shows, "but Trump says his repeated and public requests for Ukraine and China — and maybe others — to dig up dirt on his No. 1 opponent, Joe Biden, have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with his never-ending crusade against corruption."

Kimmel laughed at Trump insisting he cares about corruption, adding, "Yeah, well, so do we, and that's why you're getting impeached." He read through some of the "highly incriminating" text exchanges between U.S. diplomats strongly suggesting Trump pursued a self-serving quid pro quo with Ukraine. "If that gun isn't smoking, it's vaping like a mother right now," he said. Trump is privately fretting about impeachment staining his legacy, Kimmel laughed. "Trump worrying about his résumé is like R. Kelly worrying about his Uber rating, it doesn't make a difference. And his supporters — at least the ones who'll still go on TV — are now trying to say he was joking when he encouraged China to investigate Joe Biden."

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"Trump and many Republicans have tried a few different arguments to defend his behavior, and none of them have been convincing," Seth Meyers said at Late Night, starting with a highlight reel of Trump and his defenders claiming there was "no quid pro quo." "But now that he's literally said the crime out loud on TV," he added, they claim "he was just joking." The "incredibly damning text messages" former U.S. envoy Kurt Volker shared with House impeachment investigators prove Trump wasn't joking and was pretty clearly offering a quid pro quo, Meyers said, running though some of the texts: "Damn, anytime you text someone and they respond by saying 'Call me,' it is not good." Watch below. Peter Weber

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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.