Thursday saw the last of the Jan. 6 congressional hearings before the midterm elections — which means, depending on how things go, they could be the last Jan. 6 hearings, period. Either way, Jimmy Kimmel talked at length about them in his monologue on Thursday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Running down the news that came out of the hearings, Kimmel said “a lot of the evidence in these hearings came from Trump’s inner circle. This is like if OJ had been turned in by his gloves. These are his people.”
“Chairman of the committee started by pointing out that almost all the evidence came from Republicans, not Democrats, and that the people who stopped Trump from trying to steal the election, like Mike Pence and all those who repeatedly told him the election wasn’t rigged, are also Republican. Or should I say were Republican. Now they’re in the Witness Protection Party,” he joked.
“But we learned today that Trump knew the election wasn’t stolen and even told Mark Meadows, his chief of staff, that he didn’t want anyone to know he lost because it was embarrassing to him,” KImmel continued. “But is that more embarrassing than continuing to say you won an election two years after you lost that election?”
Kimmel brought up the footage of leading Democrats Chuck Schumer, Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi hiding from the attackers during the Jan. 6 insurrection, jesting that “it was like a reboot of ‘Home Alone’ starring your grandparents.”
“They were desperately trying to get help from the police and the military because these lunatics, not only were they threatening violence, they were using the Capitol as a bathroom,” Kimmel added. “And maybe the worst part is, they planned this.” Kimmel then played audio of Trump adviser Steve Bannon, days before the 2020 election, telling a group of people that Trump would simply “declare victory” regardless of what happened.
“That’s exactly what happened,” Kimmel said, before playing a clip of Trump friend Roger Stone telling some people that Trump would do that, adding “possession is 9/10 of the law.” The implication being Trump could simply stay in power if he refused to leave.
“There it is, it’s right on tape. It’s crazy. After seeing all this evidence, it’s crazy that the only Trump being held in prison right now is Melania,” Kimmel joked.
But Kimmel was skeptical about the biggest news from the hearings — that the bipartisan committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump. “That’s just not gonna happen anytime. Like sending a cease and desist to a hurricane,” Kimmel said.
“At this point, I don’t know what they need to hear from him. It’s all there. Case against Trump is about as obvious as an episode of ‘Scooby Doo.’”
Then Kimmel took aim at Trump’s continued supporters. “There are still those who believe, all these lifelong Republicans who worked for Donald Trump, who every day, suddenly made this all up. I mean, it’s either, either they all got together and made it up or he did it. Those are your only two choices.”
“And here’s the thing: If being an American means accepting and abiding by our Constitution, and after hearing all this, you still think what Donald Trump was OK?” Kimmel said. “Then I guess you’re not an American. I, I think that makes you an illegal. And we know how you feel about those. So, so all of those, I mean, I guess pack your stuff and make an orderly departure from the country.”
Later in the monologue Kimmel had this to say about Trump’s tendency to lie. “You know the old saying: When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. When the law is on your side, pound the law. And when you have neither of them, pound eleven Diet Cokes and start an insurrection.”
You can watch the whole monologue above.