Late night hosts poke Republicans for cherry-picking MLK Jr. quotes, recap Trump's 'deranged' rally
"Speaking of angry people in a spin," Jimmy Kimmel said on Monday's Kimmel Live, pivoting from Kanye West's new track about Pete Davidson, "Donald Trump's back on the road. He was in Florence, Arizona, this weekend for his first rally in quite a while. He ranted for an hour and 35 minutes," and his material's just "not working" anymore, he said. "It's kind of like watching the Sex and the City reboot. It needs more Samantha or something."
"Not only did Trump play the hits, he rolled out new stuff, too, including a COVID conspiracy theory that is outlandish even by Donald Trump's standards," Kimmel said. "White people are being sent to the back of the line? I guess Martin Luther King's dream has been realized at last."
The Daily Show rounded up other Martin Luther King Jr. day fails.
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Yes, MLK Jr. Day is "a day in which we all celebrate Dr. King's legacy by taking his words out of context to make it look like he agrees with whatever we're saying," Stephen Colbert said on The Late Show. "As King himself said, 'You're right, Stephen.'" He played a clip of King lamenting that the filibuster prevents a majority of the Senate from passing voting rights laws, back in 1963.
Among those cherry-picking MLK Jr. quotes was new Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who cited King's "I Have a Dream" speech to defend his ban on teaching "critical race theory" in schools. "You think Martin Luther King's message to America is don't teach children about racism?" Colbert asked. "Let's see if he agrees." (He did not.)
The Late Show further illustrated Youngkin's ban on discussing racism with a reading list.
At Late Night, Seth Meyers took a closer look at Trump's "deranged rally in Arizona" and tied it to the GOP's attempts at "subverting future elections to regain power," then compared Youngkin, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and other Republicans taking King quotes out of context to Chumbawumba songs.
Trump has apparently "been trashing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis behind his back, calling him a 'dull' guy who has no chance of beating him in a potential 2024 matchup," Jimmy Fallon said on The Tonight Show. "Trump was like, 'I have to insult him behind his back because I can't tweet it to his face.'" Still, he said, "DeSantis doesn't seem phased. He said he's gonna handle the insult just like COVID and completely ignore it."
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