Jimmy Fallon generally does fewer political jokes or references than his late night competitors, and that remained true on Wednesday night following the re-election of Donald Trump. Fallon opened with a few, mostly light-hearted jokes without wading too deep into the partisan waters.
Perhaps his most biting line was more of a pun than any major statement on Trump’s suitability as president: “Trump made history in a lot of ways. Last night, he became the first convicted felon ever elected president. Congrats. Trump could be the first president to be under White House arrest.”
Beyond that, the jokes were of this nature: “At age 78 Trump has also become the oldest man ever elected president, breaking a record set by President Biden in 2020. But it’s nice Biden will pass the torch and his Life Alert necklace.”
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Also, Fallon did reference Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election, yet his sudden reversal in 2024: “Trump won last night in pretty convincing fashion, securing the Electoral College and the popular vote, which means for the first time ever, he’ll accept the results of an election,” he quipped. And then, “so far, the Electoral College votes are 224 for Kamala Harris and 292 for Trump. Yep, 224 versus 292, it’s basically Trump’s made-up weight versus his actual weight.”
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Later, even guest Whoopi Goldberg was muted on the election, perhaps having already said her piece on “The View” earlier that day. “I think we all get it. It happened,” she said. “Some of us, it went our way. Some of us it didn’t. This is the nature of an election. This is what happens. You don’t always like what you get, but when you don’t like it enough, you can get out there and protest. That’s the beauty of America. So it happened.” From there, the duo turned to talking about their meeting earlier in the summer with Pope Francis.
Here’s part of Fallon’s monologue in relation to the election:
Last night, America decided to get back with the crazy ex and elect Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States. No matter who you voted for, I think all Americans can agree, it’s going to be a rough Thanksgiving.
Trump returning to the White House is a huge, historic comeback for someone who literally never went away. Of course, Trump’s already super busy. First, he’s got to move all those classified documents back into the White House.
Republicans were thrilled about last night, until they realized it’s going to be four more years of Melania Christmas decorations.
It was a tough night for Democrats today. They turned to Elon Musk: “So, tell me more about living on Mars. How close are they?”
The election wasn’t really close. It was a big night for Donald Trump and a bigger night for Don Julio. 51% of the country is really happy. 47% are really hung over. And one guy is both.
Trump won last night in pretty convincing fashion, securing the Electoral College and the popular vote, which means for the first time ever, he’ll accept the results of an election. So far, the Electoral College votes are 224 for Kamala Harris and 292 for Trump. Yep, 224 versus 292, it’s basically Trump’s made up weight versus his actual weight.
Trump made history in a lot of ways. Last night, he became the first convicted felon ever elected president. Congrats. Trump could be the first president to be under White House arrest.
Meanwhile, at age 78, Trump has also become the oldest man ever elected president, breaking a record set by President Biden in 2020. But it’s nice, Biden will pass the torch and his Life Alert necklace, that was sweet.
Google searches spiked for the question, “did Joe Biden drop out?” Although most of those searches were from Joe Biden.
