Late-night comedy hosts are having fun with Donald Trump’s hush money trial, with its cast of seedy characters ranging from a porn star, a convicted fixer, a tabloid editor, a president and a playboy playmate.
As the scandalous testimony enters its fourth week, liberal comedians have been telling jokes based on their salacious testimony about sex, secret payments, pseudonyms and Trump’s wild 2016 campaign.
The jury may not yet have reached a verdict in the case, but in the court of late-night comedy the sentence has been handed down and the former president is the butt of constant jokes.
The writers of Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers and more have been given a gold mine of material.Now the former president is on trial for 34 counts of falsifying business records.
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 because liberal late-night talk show hosts have made no secret of their distaste for the former president, no courtroom material has been off-limits.
Stephen Colbert celebrated his 60th birthday with Michael Cohen by taking the witness stand this week in Manhattan Criminal Court, the prosecution’s final star witness in the case.
Colbert celebrated his 60th birthday with Michael Cohen by taking the witness stand this week in Manhattan Criminal Court, the prosecution’s final star witness in the case.
On Monday, Colbert summarized the case as “falsifying business records to cover up a porn star’s trial” and described Cohen as a “former fixer-upper and fool who doesn’t feel so foolish these days.”
“As far as this affecting their marriage, according to Cohen, Trump wasn’t worried about Melania leaving him and said, ‘Don’t worry, how long do you think I’ll be on the market?’ Not much.” Colbert noted with a smile.
“Coincidentally, that’s not how Stormy described it for a long time,” 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 his eyes closed during Cohen’s cross-examination.
“This is supposed to be the final showdown with his worst enemy, and Trump is asleep,” before showing a Star Wars fight scene edited to show Darth Vader sleeping with a drink.
Daniels’ testimony had late-night hosts giddy as they covered the case.
Colbert gleefully said he took the stand to “do what he does best and that’s whip Donald Trump.”
He recounted coverage of Trump and Daniels’ 2006 hotel meeting and alleged sexual encounter on his show after Daniels went into great detail about the courtroom meeting.
Colbert targeted Trump, allegedly saying that Daniels reminds him of his daughter and joking that Daniels remembered how she was surprised to find Trump posing in bed.
Colbert also happily read court reports on air, including Daniels’ comments, such as when she responded during questioning if the sex with Trump hadn’t been real: “I would have written it so it would be a lot better.”
“So, in addition to hearing him, the jury got to see him spank him in real time,” Colbert said.
Stormy Daniels’ testimony about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump at a hotel in 2006 has been a treasure trove of jokes for late-night shows as Trump’s case to maintain his silence continues.
The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper also made a joke about the alleged spanking by saying “that poor, poor magazine.” Haven’t the print media suffered enough?
Daily Show correspondents also got in on the action.
“Imagine if every time you committed a crime, prosecutors could put your ex on the stand and describe your most mediocre relationship in great detail,” Troy Iwata said appearing outside court on the show. “And then a stenographer in a cardigan 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 about “missionary sex,” he deadpanned: “No wonder Trump locked down the evangelical voting bloc.”
Seth Meyers also focused on the details of the sexual position, the silk pajamas, and the spanking details of the testimony.
“Not even news anchors can report the news without turning red,” Meyers said.
The late-night hosts also took advantage of prosecutors saying Daniels’ testimony would not include descriptions of genitals.
“It would be really fun to hear it described with him in the room,” Meyers stated. “Just on the off chance that during Stormy’s testimony, Trump took a look at his pants and the artist in the room captured the moment.”
Jimmy Kimmel reveled in the fact that his show appeared during the trial. He came forward as evidence because Kimmel had Stormy Daniels on his show in 2018.
He played a clip of his own interview with the porn star and asked why he wasn’t asked to testify, joking that it could keep Trump awake amid reports that the former president has been falling asleep in court.
“Whether Trump fell asleep or not, one thing’s for sure: The courtroom cartoonist hates him,” Kimmel said on his show showing 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 responded that it didn’t compare to mocking Trump so much during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when he was running 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 excited to be mentioned, but I was definitely excited to be mentioned.”
The couple also enjoyed the fact that Trump “hates” them, joking that they would go to court and wait with the public to get into the courtroom to watch the trial.
Donald Trump in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 14, 2024
Donald Trump at his rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, 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 “wonderful man.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s visit to Wildwood, New Jersey, over the weekend on one of his days off from court also provided a trove of content for late-night hosts.
During the rally, Trump called Hannibal Lecter a “wonderful man,” criticized 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 comments about Lecter during the former president’s tour of the court.
‘”Why Hannibal Lecter?” “That’s an incredible question to yell at a presidential candidate,” Meyers said on his show, playing the clip.
‘By the way, that question was among other questions about his criminal case for defrauding voters by paying hush money to a porn star. Every other presidential candidate is asked, “Why Hannibal Lecter?” “It would mean you’re in a five-alarm shit storm, but for Trump it’s just a normal Monday,” Meyers continued.
Michael Cohen headed to court to testify against his former boss Donald Trump on May 13.
The late-night host also delved into Cohen’s testimony this week.
“Trump really thought that if he ended up getting divorced for the third time after an affair with a porn star, it would crush him on the dating scene,” Meyers said with a laugh. “What would your Tinder bio say? I love hot dogs, hates Springsteen and will definitely cheat.