President Donald Trump on Sunday called out “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon for expressing regrets about his September 2016 interview in which the comic famously tussled the then-candidate’s hair.
“Jimmy Fallon is now whimpering to all that he did the famous ‘hair show’ with me (where he seriously messed up my hair), & that he would have now done it differently because it is said to have ‘humanized’ me-he is taking heat,” POTUS tweeted. “Be a man Jimmy!”
.@jimmyfallon is now whimpering to all that he did the famous “hair show” with me (where he seriously messed up my hair), & that he would have now done it differently because it is said to have “humanized” me-he is taking heat. He called & said “monster ratings.” Be a man Jimmy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018
Late Sunday, Fallon responded by promising to make a donation — in Trump’s name — to Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), a charity providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas.
The nonprofit has gained visibility since the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy for immigrants and asylum seekers arriving at the Southern border.
In honor of the President’s tweet I’ll be making a donation to RAICES in his name.
— Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) June 25, 2018
In a Hollywood Reporter podcast published earlier this month, Fallon talked about the blowback he received for the election-season interview.
“I did not do it to ‘normalize’ him or to say I believe in his political beliefs or any of that stuff,” said the comic, who lost a significant chunk of his audience after Trump won the election.
He consistently trails CBS’ Stephen Colbert in total viewers now — and was even snubbed for an Emmy nomination last year in the variety series category.