Jimmy Kimmel wonders if Trump's hinting at a real October surprise. Trevor Noah explains U.S. militias.

Jimmy Kimmel and Trevor Noah — (Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Daily Show)

President Trump is publicly unhappy with Attorney General William Barr after a federal prosecutor wrapped up an Obama-era "unmasking" investigation with no charges and no report. The Daily Show recalled how important the investigation was to Trump and his Fox News friends in an "in memoriam" segment Wednesday night.

Trump "is burning massive amounts of jet fuel to spread his message and germs all over big crowds of supporters in swing states," even as COVID-19 cases are going up in almost every state — and going down in none, Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live. He pointed to a billboard outside Wednesday's Iowa rally pointing to the "Trump COVID Superspreader Event" — "that is literally a sick burn" — and showed some scenes from Tuesday's rally in Pennsylvania: "He's dancing to "YMCA," he's kissing guys — is it possible that we might be gearing up for the greatest October surprise?"

"The president is trailing Joe Biden bigly in every poll, and I think it's starting to get under his thick orange rind," Kimmel said. "All kidding aside, this is a man who is spinning out. Yesterday he retweeted a conspiracy theory that Obama and Biden staged the killing of Osama bin Laden, and that bin Laden is still alive.."

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"It is safe to say that the ongoing pandemic is driving a lot of people crazy," Trevor Noah said on The Daily Show. "But some people in Michigan have taken their frustrations a little too far."

Members of a militia group in Michigan "were apparently so mad about gyms being closed that they tried to kidnap the governor," Noah marveled. "Can I just say, angry white dudes are truly on some other level. I mean, think about it: Flint, Michigan had dirty water that poisoned its own citizens for years, and those people stayed peaceful. But these guys formed Pale ISIS because they couldn't go to Planet Fitness? Now, unfortunately, this is hardly the first time we've head about militias recently. They've been looming over protests and storming statehouses since the early days of the pandemic. And I'm not going to lie: This whole militia thing in America still blows my mind."

You usually read about armed militias in places like Afghanistan and Sudan, Noah noted, "so why is this also something that is going on in America?" Watch him explain the history of U.S. militias, and the Dick Law, 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.