Staff
Kimmel got choked up as he told viewers, “It was a bad night for everyone who voted for him, too … you just don’t realize it yet,” while Colbert felt a “deep shock and sense of loss” and Meyers said he truly doesn’t “think Donald Trump’s a good person.”
Like most of Hollywood, late night hosts weren’t exactly thrilled about Donald Trump’s election win — and made it known during their first nights back after the results came in.
On Wednesday night, Jimmy Kimmel Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers all addressed their viewers with jokes, some tears, and the promise to make them feel less alone in the days to come.
Watch each of their monologues below and see what they had to say about Trump’s win and Kamala Harris’ defeat.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
For Jimmy Kimmel, the show started with him packing to leave the country — telling Guillermo he couldn’t stick around for another four years of a Trump presidency. After slapping the host, Kimmel’s sidekick reminded him, “We need you to help us get through this. You have a very important voice!” — before joking he was headed back to Mexico.
Kimmel then went into a nearly 15-minute monologue about the election, asking whether viewers actually sent his speech last week to Republicans in their like he asked. He then revealed his son’s NSFW reaction to Trump’s win, revealing his kid dropped the f-bomb after learning the news.
“Let’s be honest. It was a terrible night last night. It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrants who make this country go,” he continued, before getting choked up.
“For health care, for employment, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech. It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on Social Security, for our allies in Ukraine,” he said, again with his voice cracking.
“And it was a terrible night for everyone who voted against him,” Kimmel continued. “And guess what? It was a bad night for everyone who voted for him, too. You just don’t realize it yet.”
Late Show with Stephen Colbert
“Well, f–k, it happened again,” Colbert bluntly put it right at the top of his show.
“The deep shock and sense of loss is enormous. But let’s look at the bright side. This way at least there’ll be a peaceful transfer of power,” he then quipped. “All day yesterday, I was walking around proudly wearing my ‘I Voted’ sticker. Today I wore my, ‘I am questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of humanity’ sticker.”
He then addressed people believing that, as a late night host, part of him wanted Trump to win for all the “material” he provides.
“No. No one tells the guy who cleans the bathroom, ‘Wow, you must love it when someone has explosive diarrhea, there’s so much material for you to work with,'” he said, admitting he, of course, didn’t want this outcome.
“In this majority, the democracy has spoken, and they said they don’t care about democracy,” he added.
Later in the show, he also expressed gratitude he still gets to do his show, at a time when audiences need to feel less alone.
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Seth Meyers opened his show by confirming he, shocker, voted for Harris … and joked he was doing Kamala-zake shots as the results came in.
“I was watching the results come in because I couldn’t sleep. And it was like Christmas Eve. If you know, on Christmas morning, you’re either gonna wake up to find that Santa left presents under the tree or just took a huge dump in your fireplace,” he said.
Like Colbert, he called it a privilege to have his show and to help people feel less alone.
“I don’t think Donald Trump’s a good person. I’d even go so far as to say he’s a bad person,” Meyers continued. “Now, in my defense, I’m only basing that on everything I’ve ever been taught about what makes someone good or bad. That’s it.”
He said the results are something we have to accept, because “that’s how democracy works in America,” which he said was a country “that is a privilege to live in, even on a morning like today.”
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
“Last night, America decided to get back with a crazy ex,” Jimmy Fallon said at the top of his show, quipping that “it’s going to be a rough Thanksgiving” for many families around the country.
He then joked about Trump moving classified documents back into the White House, before quipping about Melania Trump getting four more years of her Christmas decorations.
“Trump returning to the White House is a huge historic comeback for someone who literally never went away,” he joked, before bringing up the fact Trump is the first convicted felon ever elected president. “Trump could be the first president to be under White House arrest.”
See more reactions to the election results below.
