After Day 1 of RNC, late night hosts poke fun at Milwaukee, political happenings
Late night television took a few swipes at Milwaukee and more than a few at the speakers at the Republican National Convention on Monday night, after the convention completed its first day.
Wisconsin and Milwaukee got the most airtime on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” who dedicated a live monologue to the opening day of the RNC. Right away, Milwaukee and its nicknames got Colbert’s first jabs, after he kindly described it as a “beautiful” place.
“Also known as Brew City, Beer City and ‘All Of The Other Cities Are Worried About You’ City,” he said.
Colbert seemed to have genuine respect for some of the other names around the city too, especially one in the RNC’s soft security zone.
“If you’re in Milwaukee, and you can’t get into the convention there is an official convention watch party at a local pub called – and this is true – Drink Wisconsibly,” he said. “Lovely, bravo. Truly one of the best state and warning label themed bars in the country.”
Colbert also made fun of the state law that doesn’t allow for guns to be banned in the RNC’s soft zone, but things like tennis balls are banned, and made fun of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s remarks on Wisconsin’s very kind people as a reason to not be concerned about safety.
“Yes, Wisconsin only produces the nicest people like Tony Shaloub, Chris Farley and Jeffrey Dahmer,” he said.
The last Wisconsin person to get teased was none other than Kenosha Rev. James A. Roemke of Messiah Lutheran Church. Roemke gave his best impression of the former president, saying that everyone was “going to be so blessed” and waved his hands in a Trump-esque way.
The Journal Sentinel described it as “one heck of a Donald Trump impression.” Colbert, though, didn’t quite agree.
“Oh my lord. It is a miracle. Someone has a worse Trump impression than me," he said, after giving a halfhearted Trump impression earlier in his monologue.
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” also briefly cracked a few jokes about the more explicitly political happenings, calling the bearded U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (and Trump’s vice-presidential pick) a “civil war re-enactor who shops at Men’s Wearhouse.”
On the RNC itself, Fallon compared it to holidays with extended family.
“It’s four days of intense Republican speeches, like when your uncle comes to stay with you for Thanksgiving,” Fallon quipped.
The Daily Show took Monday off, after previously announcing it would be canceling its Milwaukee-based recordings of the show following the assassination attempt on Trump.
Other shows, like Jimmy Kimmel Live and its guest host Anthony Anderson touched on the other political issues like the dismissal of the case against Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: RNC, Milwaukee and Wisconsin get teased after Day 1 of convention