Late night hosts have some theories, jokes about why Trump has been in hiding
President-elect Joe Biden has "been busy trying to prepare his team for office," but "Donald Trump — one-term president and tenant from hell — is still going through all the stages of grief: denial, rage-tweeting, undermining democracy, and back to denial," Trevor Noah said on Wednesday's Daily Show. "Honestly, people, I don't think Donald Trump has ever looked more pathetic than this — and yes, I'm including the time he played tennis in his sport diapers," he said. "Everyone knows Trump lost. Even Donald Trump knows that he lost. Do you know how you know this? You realize you haven't seen his face since they called the race? He hasn't shown it. You think if Donald Trump really thought he'd won, he'd be hiding? No, we know this guy. The guy would be holding a victory rally every single day."
"This morning, President Trump made his first public appearance in six days," James Corden noted at The Late Late Show. "He's basically been in hiding since shortly after the election, and that explains why you've been having such a great week. But Trump, yeah, he finally came out of his hole — and yes, I can confirm he saw his shadow, which means it's going to be six more weeks of voter fraud claims."
Trump is "doing everything he can to keep his tiny Cheeto-like grip on the presidency," including replacing the civilian leaderships at the Pentagon, Jimmy Kimmel said at Kimmel Live. "Obviously, Trump installing these loyalists — or people he thinks are loyalists — in key spots at the Pentagon raises fears that he's plotting something. We may soon find out the answer to the question: Can a coup be pulled off by people who spell it 'c-o-o'?"
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Trump is "like a toddler too hopped-up on sugar to go to bed: There's no reasoning with him at this point, you just have to let him tire himself out, wait till he falls asleep on the kitchen floor, and hope he hasn't conspired with the dog to stage a coup," Stephen Colbert joked at The Late Show. Seriously, "getting this guy out of office is gonna be a bumpy ride," but Biden's not worried, he said, showing the president-elect shrug off Trump's histrionics. "You know what? It feels really good that ignoring the president is now so presidential."
The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon and Patty Smyth simply sang Trump goodbye. 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.
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