Late-night hosts talk Giving Tuesday, Donald Trump’s visit to Notre Dame and the scandals surrounding his choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel reported feeling extra #blessed on Tuesday evening, the night after Cyber Monday colloquially known as charity-themed Giving Tuesday. “It’s so us that we do Giving Tuesday after Black Friday, which actually starts on Wednesday and goes all the way to Cyber Monday,” he said. “Only once we’ve had six full days of shopping, once we’ve bought all the Game Boys and InstaPots and Roombas, then and only then is it time for Giving Tuesday, the day to rummage around in our pockets and see if there’s anything left.”
In other news, Donald Trump is expected to travel to Paris this weekend to attend the reopening ceremony for Notre Dame cathedral, restored five years after a fire devastated the historic structure. “And if all goes according to plan, he would like to buy it and turn it into a casino,” Kimmel quipped.
Trump will also meet with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, whom he is said to be jealous of “because he’s able to button his suit jacket without adding butter”, Kimmel noted.
“It’s expected to be a nice, very pleasant trip for the president-elect to enjoy Paris before he takes office,” he added. “And of course, for his wife, Melania, to enjoy wherever it is she will be this weekend.”
Meanwhile, in Washington, Republicans are “absolutely exploding with pretend outrage” over Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter on federal gun and tax charges.
John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas, lamented in Congress that giving someone a “pass” meant there was “no deterrent effect, or no accountability, that teaches our young people and others that yes, you need to follow the law, and yes, there are consequences if you don’t”.
Kimmel could only laugh. “These guys have seriously gotta be kidding with this,” he said. “And they do it with straight face!”
Stephen Colbert
On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert looked into disappointment over Biden’s pardon among Democrats. The Colorado senator Michael Bennet, for example, posted on X: “President Biden’s decision put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.”
“OK, not sure how much interest Americans have in the idea of justice right now,” Colbert responded. “After all, we had an election, and we did just re-elect a guy whose slogan was, ‘Like my crime? Then hit me baby one more time.’”
Colbert also noted growing concern over Trump’s proposed tariffs – taxes on imported goods which significantly increase consumer prices on nearly everything that is not made in the US. “And we make tons of stuff in the USA. Did you know that we are the world’s largest producer of real housewives?” Colbert joked.
Last week, Trump threatened 25% tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico, despite the fact that Mexico supplies nearly half of the US’s imported fruits and around two-thirds of its vegetables, including berries, bell peppers and cucumbers. “And without any of those, how will Americans get their recommended daily amount of things that go bad in the fridge?” Colbert quipped.
Mexico also brews most the beer imported by the US, and makes 88% of the pickup trucks bought by Americans. “No beer or pickup trucks? Trump better not put a tariff on a pair of blue jeans that fit just right or we’re going to run out of country songs,” said Colbert.
The Daily Show
Alcohol scandals, sex scandals, AND money scandals: What can't Pete Hegseth do? pic.twitter.com/oCp3t9Ws1r
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) December 4, 2024
And on The Daily Show, Ronny Chieng checked in on Trump’s cabinet picks for his second term. “Now that Matt Gaetz has dropped out to try to find the high school from Euphoria, there is a new nominee for shadiest nominee,” he explained.
That would be Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for secretary of defense and a “guy with resting divorce face”.
The latest scandal for the Fox News host with no department of defense experience: a New Yorker report on how he was forced to step down from a veterans’ non-profit board due to alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and mishandling the group’s money. “Ok, that’s a lot for one person,” said Chieng. “Alcohol, sex and financial misconduct? I mean, it’s called delegating, bud. Try it sometime.
“How could someone do so many bad things at the same time?” he added. “Like not only are you drinking and harassing women, you’ve also got to find time to suck at QuickBooks?”
According to the report, Hegseth treated the organization’s funds “like they were a personal expense account – for partying, drinking, and using CVA events as little more than opportunities to ‘hook up’ with women on the road”.
“When he joined this veterans’ charity, did he think he was the veteran it was going to?” Chieng wondered.
