Late night comedy hosts have a field day with Donald Trump’s hush money trial with a cast of seedy characters from porn star, convicted fixer, tabloid publisher, president and Playboy Playmate.
As the scandalous testimony enters its fourth week, the liberal comedians are serving up jokes from the salacious testimony about sex, secret payments, pseudonyms and Trump’s wild 2016 campaign.
The jury may not have reached a verdict in the case yet, but in the court of late-night comedy, a verdict has been reached and the ex-president is the butt of constant jokes.
Writers with Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers and more have gotten their hands on a goldmine of material.The ex-president is on trial on 34 charges of falsifying company documents.
It is the first of four criminal cases against Trump to go to trial and perhaps the only one that took place before the election.
Donald Trump in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 16
And since liberal late-night show hosts have made no secret of their distaste for the former president, no courtroom material is off limits.
Stephen Colbert celebrated his 60th birthday as Michael Cohen took the witness stand in Manhattan Criminal Court this week, the prosecution’s last and most important witness in the case.
Colbert celebrated his 60th birthday as Michael Cohen took the witness stand in Manhattan Criminal Court this week, the prosecution’s last and most important witness in the case.
On Monday, Colbert summarized the case as “falsifying business records to cover up a porn star lawsuit” and described Cohen as a “former fixer and dumb putter who doesn’t feel so weird these days.”
According to Cohen, as far as this affecting his marriage, Trump was not concerned about Melania leaving him. He said, ‘Don’t worry, how long do you think I’ll be in the market? Colbert noticed with a grin.
“Coincidentally, not that long is how Stormy described it,” Colbert joked, referencing porn star Stormy Daniels’ description of alleged sex with Trump from the witness stand last week.
On Wednesday, Colbert seized on reports that Trump had closed his eyes during Cohen’s cross-examination.
“This should be the final standoff with his worst enemy, and Trump is sleeping,” before showing a Star Wars fight scene edited to show Darth Vader in a sleeping nightcap.
The Daniels testimony left the late night hosts giddy as they covered the case.
Colbert cheerfully said she was taking the stand to “do what she does best, and that’s beat up Donald Trump.”
He continued reporting on Trump and Daniels’ 2006 hotel meeting and alleged sexual encounter on his show after Daniels detailed the meeting in court.
Colbert focused on Trump reportedly saying Daniels reminds him of his daughter and joked about Daniels remembering how shocked she was when she saw Trump posing on the bed.
Colbert also enjoyed reading courtroom reports on air, including Daniels’ statements, such as when she argued during cross-examination if the sex with Trump had not been real. “I would have written it to be a lot better.”
“So in addition to hearing about it, the jury also saw her hitting him in real time,” Colbert said.
Stormy Daniels’ testimony about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump at a hotel in 2006 was a treasure trove of jokes for late-night shows as Trump’s hush money case raged on
The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper also made a joke about the so-called slamming saying “that poor, poor magazine.” Haven’t the print media suffered enough?’
Correspondents from the Daily Show also participated.
“Imagine if every time you commit a crime, prosecutors can put your ex on the witness stand and describe your most mediocre relationship in painstaking detail,” Troy Iwata said as he appeared outside the courthouse during the show. “And then a stenographer in a vest wrote it all down and then Jake Tapper broadcast it on national television.”
Jon Stewart took aim at the television coverage of the trial, describing it as “penis-to-penis coverage.”
Regarding Daniels’ testimony of “missionary sex,” he deadpanned, “no wonder Trump has locked down the evangelical voting bloc.”
Seth Meyers also focused on the sexual position, silk pajamas and spanking details of the testimony.
“Even newscasters can’t report the news without turning red,” Meyers said.
Hosts also hit prosecutors late in the evening, saying Daniels’ testimony would not include descriptions of genitals.
“It would be so funny to hear it described while he was in the room,” Meyers stated. “Only for the chance that Trump would sneak a glance at his pants during Stormy’s testimony, and the courtroom artist would capture the moment.”
Jimmy Kimmel enjoyed the fact that his show was brought up during the trial. It was introduced into the evidence because Kimmel had Stormy Daniels on his show in 2018.
He played a clip from his own interview with the porn star and wondered why he wasn’t asked to testify, joking that he could keep Trump awake amid reports that the former president was asleep in court fallen.
“Whether Trump fell asleep or not, one thing is certain: the courtroom artist hates him,” Kimmel said during his show in which he showed one of many drawings of Trump in the courtroom.
A sketch of Donald Trump in court as Michael Cohen is questioned by Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche on Tuesday in the hush money case
Kimmel also appeared on Seth Meyers’ show on Monday, where Meyers congratulated Kimmel for being mentioned during the trial.
Kimmel thanked him, but countered that this was nothing like ridiculing Trump so much at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that he ran for president.
Meyers headlined the infamous 2011 dinner, where Trump was in the audience before Trump launched his first presidential bid for the White House.
“I was thrilled to be mentioned,” Kimmel told Meyers. “I don’t know why I was so excited to be mentioned, but I sure was excited to be mentioned.”
The pair also reveled in the fact that Trump “hates” them, joking that they would go to the courthouse and wait with the public to enter the courtroom to watch the trial.
Donald Trump in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 14, 2024
Donald Trump at his rally in Wildwood, NJ on May 11, 2024, where he ranted about Bruce Springsteen, talked about eating hot dogs and praised fictional serial killer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter as a ‘great man’
Meanwhile, Trump’s visit to Wildwood, New Jersey last weekend on one of his days off also provided a wealth of content for late-night hosts.
During the rally, Trump called Hannibal Lecter a “great man,” beat up Bruce Springsteen and talked about eating hot dogs.
When Trump returned to court this week, a reporter shouted a question that brought up Trump’s Lecter comments as the former president walked through the court.
“Why Hannibal Lecter?” It’s such a great question to yell at a presidential candidate,” Meyers said on his show as he played the clip.
‘By the way, that question was among other questions about his criminal trial for defrauding voters by paying hush money to a porn star. To any other presidential candidate who is asked the question, “Why Hannibal Lecter?” would mean being in a five-alarm storm, but just a normal Monday for Trump,” Meyers continued.
Michael Cohen went to court on May 13 to testify against his former boss Donald Trump
The late night host also delved into Cohen’s testimony this week.
“Trump really thought that if he got divorced for the third time after an affair with a porn star, he would crush it on the dating scene,” Meyers said with a laugh. ‘What would his Tinder bio say? Loves hot dogs, hates Springsteen and will definitely cheat.”