Donald Trump Claims Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’ Is ‘Dying’ and Late Night Hosts Are ‘So Bad’: ‘Where Is Johnny Carson? Bring Back Johnny’
Donald Trump railed against the state of late night television during a Sept. 23 rally in Pennsylvania for his presidential campaign. He claimed the late night shows hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel are “all dying” and added: “These three guys are so bad.” Trump is often the target of jokes on these programs.
“He’s not very funny,” Trump said specifically about Fallon after a clip from Kamala Harris’ 2020 appearance on “The Tonight Show” aired during the rally. The clip featured Harris talking about fracking and Fallon responding: “Mamala Kamala just don’t give a frack.”
More from Variety
“Those three guys are being blown away by [Fox News’] Gutfeld,” Trump added. “When I first ran in 2015 or was thinking about running I went on [Jimmy’s] show, ‘The Tonight Show,’ which is dying. They’re all dying. Where is Johnny Carson? Bring back Johnny. It made you appreciate the greatness of Johnny Carson. These three guys are so bad.”
Trump’s Johnny Carson comment quickly went viral on social media considering the iconic “Tonight Show” host died in 2005. It’s unclear if Trump was speaking literally about calling for Carson’s return, but that didn’t stop “The View” co-host Joy Behar from joking: “I mean maybe we could have a seance for him.”
“I don’t like anybody that doesn’t like me,” Trump added during the rally. “I’ll be honest, when they don’t like me, I don’t like them. Ok? Sounds childish… That’s the way it is. Call it a personality defect.”
Behar said on “The View” that Trump going after comedians like the late night hosts is a red flag, adding: “Once you start going after the comedians, you really have to pay attention. Because the comedians are the philosophers of the time, in a certain way, you know?”
Trump and Kimmel are often engaging in a war of words. The two sparred earlier this year during Kimmel’s stint hosting the Oscars, where he read aloud Trump’s scathing review of the show right before best picture was announced. Trump posted on Truth Social during the Oscars and called Kimmel a bad host.
“Well, thank you, President Trump,” Kimmel fired back live on stage. “Thank you for watching, I’m surprised you’re still — isn’t it past your jail time?”
Trump proceeded to bash Kimmel as a “lousy host” and “not a talented guy” in interviews and claimed Kimmel’s “ratings are terrible” for his ABC talk show.
“What he doesn’t realize is that I love this,” Kimmel shared in a reaction. “I love that this bothered him so much, I love that Fox picked a news guy nobody knows to interview him, and I especially love when he tries to spin the fact that everyone was laughing at him into a positive.”
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
