Donald Trump is under fire, with several late night television hosts wading in on the controversy over his bizarre tribute in memory of Senator Lindsey Graham.
Trump was one of the last people to speak to the senator before he died of a “brief and sudden illness” Saturday at age 71. The president tried to memorialize his ally during a Monday phone interview with Fox & Friends but veered off course — and several late night hosts wasted no time in calling out the meandering tribute.
Comedian Ike Barinholtz, guest hosting on Jimmy Kimmel’s eponymous show, began by saying, “What a crazy weekend. Mitch McConnell’s alive. Lindsey Graham is dead. There’s so many opportunities to get Jimmy’s show pulled off the air again.”
After mocking Trump’s rambling eulogy, Barinholtz continued: “No Trump eulogy for Lindsey Graham would be complete without a loose five on rigged elections.”
During his Fox & Friends appearance, Trump praised Graham for remaining loyal to him, giving a “99 instead of 100” with the sole exception of “one bad moment” — a viral speech delivered in the Senate chamber while debating whether to reject Arizona’s 2020 electoral votes for Joe Biden.
“Now he had one bad moment, and that was you know on the January 6 thing ... then he called me like about 40 minutes later, and he said, ‘Did I really say that? I can’t believe it,’ and he took it back ... so I give him a 99 instead of a 100,” Trump said.
That particular moment of Trump’s tribute also struck The Daily Show host Jon Stewart.
“You know, my favorite part of any eulogy is when they announce the person’s life score. He’s doing a eulogy like it’s Portnoy doing a pizza review,” Stewart quipped.
Seth Meyers, meanwhile, harped on a different point Trump made about repeatedly letting Graham’s calls go to voicemail.
“In a phone interview this morning with Fox and Friends, President Trump said that the late Senator Lindsey Graham would call him all the time, and added, ‘I’d say, “Stop calling me, Lindsey,’” said Meyers.
“What a touching tribute. Very rare for the person giving the eulogy to say, ‘I wish I’d talked to him less.’”
Graham’s death has sparked divided reactions as the Republican senator leaves behind a controversial legacy due to his support of the war in Iran, along with his shifting alliance with Trump.
The View co-hosts spent much of their Monday broadcast criticizing people who have celebrated Graham’s death.
“It’s inhumane and it’s really lacking empathy,” Ana Navarro said. “The dead person is dead and can’t hear you and can’t read your posts, but his family — his sister, who he adopted when she was 13 when both of their parents died — is alive and is hearing it.”
Comedian Margaret Cho, meanwhile, sparked backlash for her own celebratory video following the senator’s death.
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