Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel took a comedic jab at former President Donald Trump for reportedly “falling asleep” during Stormy Daniels’ testimony at his New York hush money trial, a high-profile case stemming from a $130,000 payment made to Daniels to allegedly keep her quiet about an affair with Trump.
In his opening monologue on Thursday night, Kimmel humorously noted that it was the second day Daniels testified, quipping that Trump seemed to be dozing off as the adult film star detailed their alleged encounter. “Trump fell asleep again multiple times,” Kimmel said, adding that it happened while Daniels was testifying about her supposed sexual encounter with the former president.
Kimmel also highlighted defense attorney Susan Necheles’ strategy to discredit Daniels, who was described as a “sleazy, money-grubbing liar.” Kimmel wryly commented, “If that’s true, you can see why they hit it off.”
The late-night host also pointed out that it was an interesting day for court stenographers, as terms like “human toilet,” “orange turd,” and “Make America Horny Again” became part of the official court record during Daniels’ cross-examination. Kimmel jokingly suggested they could be museum-worthy, exclaiming, “Print those out and hang them on the Smithsonian wall!”
In a nod to Trump’s legal team’s argument that Daniels’ claims were false, Kimmel played a clip of Texas Senator Ted Cruz defending Trump by declaring, “There is no person on Planet Earth that believes Donald Trump has been celibate all his life.” Kimmel teased, “Thanks Ted! That’s going to make Mother’s Day with Melania a lot of fun this year!”
Kimmel has long been a critic of Trump, having previously joked about the former president’s legal troubles at the Oscars. He even interviewed Stormy Daniels about her alleged affair with Trump in 2018 and suggested he might be willing to testify in the trial.
During her seven hours of testimony, Daniels described in detail the alleged sexual encounter with Trump in July 2006 at a Lake Tahoe hotel, including Trump’s failure to use a condom, which led the defense to twice call for a mistrial. However, Judge Juan Merchan rejected these requests, noting that “there were some things that were better left unsaid.”
