Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers mock Trump's Lincoln complex, fret 'murder hornets'

Late night hosts on Trump, Lincoln, murder hornets

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

published 5 May 2020

Public health officials are worried about the large crowds not social distancing outside in the nice weather, but "one person isn't that concerned: Donald Trump," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. "Trump believes that getting the economy moving is at this point the only way he can get re-elected, so he's going to try to do it no matter what the risk is to Americans."

Trump's choice of the Lincoln Memorial for Sunday night's Fox News virtual town hall sparked some criticism, but his comment about being treated worse than Abraham Lincoln was something else, Colbert said. "Really? You're going to compare yourself to Abraham Lincoln? Well, I'd like to point out that none of his supporters carried Confederate flags." In "happier news," he deadpanned, "'murder hornets' have arrived in the U.S."

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Yes "as if things weren't already insane, the country is now being invaded by something called 'murder hornets,'" Jimmy Kimmel sighed. Meanwhile, "here in California, we have suicidal beachgoers to worry about." Trump "continues to play both sides" on social distancing, but he "has also been trying to cast himself as a victim of the virus," Kimmel said. "Just for the record, you're not allowed to say you're being treated worse than Lincoln if you are still alive."

Trump had "two unfiltered hours on national television to say whatever" he wanted "without fact-checking or followups," Late Night's Seth Meyers noted. "Lincoln couldn't even get thought a play without being interrupted. I'm shocked the memorial didn't pull a Fauci." Like Kimmel, Meyers laughed at Trump's convoluted chess-poker-not-checkers word salad. "This is what you get when you make a TV star president."

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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.