American late-night television hosts have delivered a scathing verdict on the latest controversies surrounding Donald Trump's inner circle, focusing on a former official's alleged authorisation of extrajudicial killings and the former president's own sleeping habits.
Kimmel's Spotify Spoof and Trump's Snooze Defence
During his Wednesday evening monologue, Jimmy Kimmel began by humourously addressing the annual cultural phenomenon of Spotify Wrapped lists. He joked about the platform's data collection, suggesting other companies should follow suit with equally personal summaries.
He then turned to the uproar after Trump was seen repeatedly dozing off during a lengthy cabinet meeting. Kimmel mocked the vigorous defence mounted by his supporters on right-wing news channels. He highlighted comments from Fox News's Laura Ingraham and a Newsmax host attempting to normalise the naps, and particularly ridiculed Fox's medical analyst, Dr Marc Siegel, for comparing Trump's sleep to Thomas Edison's napping habits.
"The fact is, we all watched him dozing off repeatedly on television," Kimmel stated, noting the frantic efforts of what he sarcastically called the "Don Trump Admiration and Ball-Gobbling Society" to explain it away.
'Secretary of War Crimes' Under Fire
Kimmel swiftly moved to what he described as a more serious sleep-deprivation case: Pete Hegseth, whom he labelled "our secretary of war crimes." Hegseth is facing intense criticism and calls for prosecution for allegedly authorising a military strike on a boat off the Venezuelan coast suspected of drug smuggling, followed by a second strike intended to eliminate survivors.
The comedian emphasised the significance of the backlash by pointing out that it now includes Andrew Napolitano, a former Fox News colleague of Hegseth's and a conservative commentator on Newsmax. "Do you know how badly a member of Trump's inner circle has to screw up to get criticised on Newsmax?" Kimmel mused, suggesting the severity of the alleged transgression.
Colbert on Drug Smuggling Double Standards
On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert also tackled the Hegseth scandal, noting the former official was still under fire for "maybe definitely committing war crimes." He found the justification for the strikes—that the boats were involved in drug smuggling—to be ironic given another recent development.
Colbert highlighted Trump's announcement that he would pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted last year of conspiracy to import over 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. Colbert juxtaposed this with a photo of Donald Trump Jr. to illustrate the scale. When asked about the pardon, Trump reportedly responded, "Which one?" prompting Colbert to retort, "How many notorious drug traffickers have you pardoned?"
Colbert also touched on lighter White House news, mocking Melania Trump's release of a Spanish-language audiobook of her memoir, despite not being known to speak the language. He revealed the recording used an AI-generated version of her voice, available for $25, quipping it was the work of "that other great Spanish-language author, Gabriel García Mar2-D2."
The combined segments from Kimmel and Colbert underscore the continued focus of late-night comedy on the legal and ethical controversies dogging figures associated with the previous US administration, blending sharp satire with pointed political criticism.
