Jimmy Fallon, Trevor Noah, and a cartoon elephant recap Trump's mortifying interview with Chris Wallace
The reactions to President Trump's performance in his Fox News Sunday interview with Chris Wallace "were mixed: some experts called it a fiasco, while others called it a debacle," Jimmy Fallon joked on Monday's Tonight Show. "I'm not saying it was bad, but by the end of it, Kanye was calling for Trump to get some help." In fact, he said, "the interview was so rough, now everyone who enters the White House gets tested to make sure they're not Chris Wallace."
One especially cringe-worthy part was when Trump once more bragged about how well he did on a cognitive test, only to be challenged by Wallace, Fallon said. "I'm glad Trump knows how to identify an elephant. If the country ever has an elephant pandemic, we'll be in great shape. Meanwhile, Don Jr. took the test, but he just shot a hole in the picture of the elephant." He ran through some fictional Trump test answers.
The elephant responded in Tooning Out the News.
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.
And Stephen Colbert's Late Show opened with a Trump-themed homage to Good Will Hunting.
"This was no softball interview," Trevor Noah agreed at The Daily Show. "In fact it was pretty much a master class in how not to let Trump get away with his usual bulls--t." On COVID-19 mortality rates, for example, "Chris Wallace did two things right there that Trump absolutely hates: He proved him wrong and he made him do homework," he said. "I don't care how many times I watch it — it is priceless seeing Trump flail around, trying to find the fact that he made up. And it actually shows you how his brain just kind of mixes up everything he reads into one big information smoothie."
"Honestly, it got to the point where Chris Wallace wasn't just fact-checking Trump, he was fact-shaming him," Noah said, pointing to the cognitive test back-and-forth. "This is sort of making me sad right now. Because Trump is trying so hard to claim he's a genius because he passed a test where you have to identify an elephant — which, let's be honest, even for Trump is too easy. I mean, if they wanted to test Trump, they shouldn't have asked him to identify an elephant, they should have asked him to identify his second daughter." Watch below for other examples of how Trump made every subject "weird." Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
How robust is the rule of law in the US?In the Spotlight John Roberts says the Constitution is ‘unshaken,’ but tensions loom at the Supreme Court
-
Magazine solutions - December 26-January 2Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 26-January 2
-
Venezuela ‘turning over’ oil to US, Trump saysSpeed Read This comes less than a week after Trump captured the country’s president
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
A peek inside Europe’s luxury new sleeper busThe Week Recommends Overnight service with stops across Switzerland and the Netherlands promises a comfortable no-fly adventure
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
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'
