Jimmy Kimmel Weighs In on Trump Conviction, Reveals He Had to ‘Rewrite Whole Monologue’ — Watch Video
With Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and Jon Stewart’s respective late-night programs in reruns, all eyes were on Jimmy “Isn’t It Past Your Jail Time?” Kimmel for his reaction to Donald Trump’s conviction.
On Thursday afternoon, Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts in the criminal trial related to hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he allegedly had sexual encounters in 2006. (The felony conviction of a onetime POTUS — and presumptive GOP nominee in this November’s presidential election — is unprecedented.)
More from TVLine
Trump Convicted of All 34 Felony Counts in Hush Money Trial — Get Details on Historic Verdict
Biden, Trump Agree to First Presidential Debate of 2024 Election Season — Find Out When & Where
High Potential: Rob Thomas Exits as Showrunner of New ABC Drama
“After seven long weeks, the courtroom is empty and Donald Trump’s diaper is full,” Kimmel opened his Jimmy Kimmel Live! monologue, which he admitted had to be rewritten at the last minute when it became clear the jury would return with a verdict on Thursday around 5 pm, and not need until Friday to reach their unanimous decision.
“Poor Donald Trump, seven weeks of sleep-farting all down the drain,” he remarked. “All for nothing.”
Kimmel cued up a post-verdict video of Trump outside the courtroom, saying, “The real verdict is going to be November 5 [Election Day], by the people…. We’re going to keep fighting to the very end, and we’ll win.”
“I have bad news…,” Kimmel countered. “”The only thing you’re going to be fighting to win is the Jell-O cup on your prison cafeteria tray.”
Kimmel then put up on the screen a social media post by Eric Trump — the only family member on hand for the verdict reading — which read, “May 30, 2024 might be remembered as the day Donald J. Trump won the 2024 election.”
“Or,” Kimmel quipped, “it will be remembered as the day a jury in New York spanked your dad even harder than Stormy did with that Forbes magazine.”
Kimmel closed things out with a pre-taped montage of “legal correspondent” Jake Byrd’s antics outside the Manhattan courthouse, culminating with Byrd appearing to sneak into multiple cable news networks’ coverage of the historic day, mistaken for an actual Trump supporter.
Watch Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘s full Thursday monologue above.
Trump in this particular legal matter was arrested in April 2023 and charged with 34 felony counts — including a felony charge of falsifying business records — related to aforementioned hush money payment made to Daniels. The charges brought by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg stemmed from Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen testifying that he paid off Daniels in 2016 and passed it off as a legal expense, as Trump pursued his first White House bid. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker allegedly brokered the Daniels deal as well as used a “catch-and-kill” arrangement with Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep quiet her own 2006 affair with Trump.
For Trump to be found guilty of a felony charge of falsifying business records, jurors had to decide that he not only “cause(d) a false entry in the business records of an enterprise” while acting “with intent to defraud,” but also that the “intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.”
Trump is set to be sentenced on Thursday, July 11 at 10 am ET — four days before the Republican National Convention.
Best of TVLine
Summer TV Calendar: Your Guide to 85+ Season and Series Premieres
Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Showtime Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?)
Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
