Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Jimmy Kimmel guess the real reason for Trump's new immigration freeze


"As coronavirus continues to sweep across America, leaders are trying to figure out the right balance between keeping people safe and keeping the economy moving," Trevor Noah said on Tuesday's Daily Social Distancing Show. And some governors are erring on the side of business, he said, comparing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) decision to reopen bowling alleys to urging "people to join a competitive sneezing league. But while some are opening up their states, President Trump has announced that he's shutting down the border."
Yes, "in a 10 p.m. tweet last night, Trump declared that due to coronavirus, he's going to sign an executive order suspending all immigration into the United States," Noah said. "This is a big step for Trump, because remember, two-thirds of his wives have been immigrants. So closing the immigration system is Trump's version of deleting Tinder." This executive action is "yet another policy he's pushing through during the corona pandemic," following other immigration freezes and gutting environmental enforcement, he said. "So don't forget, while you're finally getting around to watching Ozark and trying to bake bread for the first time, Donald Trump, he's also using coronavirus as an opportunity to do all the things he always wanted to do," only "Trump's hobbies are going to keep going for a very long time."
"I don't necessarily agree" with Trump's immigration "bombshell," Stephen Colbert said at A Late Show, "but it's probably the safest thing — for the immigrants. Because right now America is basically a petri dish on the floor of a bus station men's room. But this ban's not going to do anything to stop the spread of the virus or put Americans back to work," and "Trump's tweet is less about information and more about promoting today's press briefing, reality show style." He dissected some of the crazy things Trump said at Monday's press briefing.
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Trump did tell "a pretty funny joke" at the briefing, about how he never lies, before promptly lying, Jimmy Kimmel noted. Trump claimed he hasn't left the White House "in months," but "he held rallies in February and March, and he let the White House four times in March, including a trip to Mar-a-Lago. Mar-a-Lago, by the way, laid off 153 workers today in addition to the 560 laid off at Trump's resort in Miami — maybe this is why he's so anxious to open for business again: He's getting hurt." 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.
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