Kimmel Roasts Trump for Trying to Pass Alleged Hush Money as ‘Legal Expense’
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“Another Stormy day in New York in a new episode of The Orange People’s Court today starring Donald J. Trump as the defendant,” Jimmy Kimmel announced in the opening monologue of his late-night show Tuesday, the second day of the former president’s New York criminal trial.
Seven jurors made the cut on Tuesday. However, more were dismissed after questions arose about content they had shared on social media that ridiculed the former president, while Trump himself was forced look at mean memes about him shared by prospective jurors.
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Following his remarks on the courtroom climate, Kimmel added that “Ebenezer Scrooge was up bright and early” to lash out at Judge Juan Merchan (who imposed a gag order on Trump), noting that “only Donald Trump will complain about being under a gag order while violating that very gag order.”
Merchan said earlier this week that he would hold a hearing on April 24 over whether to hold Trump in contempt for social media posts prosecutors allege violated his gag order. Kimmel pointed out the threat of jail time, then played a clip of his legal spokesperson, Alina Habba, being asked if her boss was worried about spending time behind bars for violating his gag order. After admitting Trump was concerned, Habba said that if he was put in jail, he would “be like Nelson Mandela” — echoing Trump’s earlier attempts to portray himself as a martyr.
The late-night host moved on to say that the Trump campaign had pushed back on “fake snooze” reports that Trump had fallen asleep in court, while noting that on Tuesday a number of journalists in the room reported he had dozed off again. Kimmel mused, “Is it possible his lawyers are tranquilizing him to keep the outbursts at a minimum?”
“The gags were off outside the courthouse this morning,” continued Kimmel, before he played a video of Trump floating “a new line of defense from the hallways of justice.”
“I was paying a lawyer, and I marked it down as a legal expense, some accountant,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning. “I didn’t know. Marked it down as a legal expense. That’s exactly what it was. And you get indicted over that?”
In reply, Kimmel quipped: “He claims he didn’t have sex with Stormy Daniels; he just paid her 130 grand out of the goodness of his heart.” The late-night host continued, “The truth is, paying a woman to keep her quiet about having sex with you while your wife was at home with your newborn baby isn’t illegal. What’s illegal is falsifying records to make it a business expense, which he made so his supporters wouldn’t find out he’s a lying, cheating scumbag.”
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