U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer's speaker bid lasted only 4 hours, but late-night talk shows made fun of him all night

It was another interesting day in Washington as House Republicans tried again, and failed again, to nominate a new speaker of the House, and the late-night hosts have been keeping close tabs on the situation.

The House Republicans' latest nominee for speaker on Tuesday morning was Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer. But it only took a few hours for his chances to quickly dwindle as he concluded that not enough votes would be there, so he dropped out of consideration.

And while his time as the possible new speaker was short-lived, he provided enough fodder for all the major late-night shows to dive into his story.

Emmer’s roller coaster day

On The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the host ran down some of Emmer’s key resumé points as a Representative, including being the House majority whip and sitting on the Financial Services Committee. He also pointed out that Emmer has had two DUI infractions and then sponsored legislation to lessen the penalties for drunk drivers.

“OK, so a little self-serving,” Colbert said, before joking, “He also introduced H.R. 2435: That Mailbox Was Already Knocked Down.”

Colbert went on to point out Emmer’s unforgettable upside-down appearance during a COVID-era Zoom meeting in the House Committee. Colbert then switched to an upside-down view of himself and said as if he were Emmer, “Full disclosure, I’ve been drinking so I don’t know how to fix this, hold on, I’m just gonna drive over to the genius bar.”

On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, before the host jumped into Emmer’s day, he set the overall scene first.

“In the history of our country there has never been a situation like this, and there’s nothing in the constitution that covers it because our founding fathers, as forward-thinking as they were, never imagined such a large group of elected officials being so unbelievably dumb,” Kimmel said.

When it came time to discuss that the GOP “whittled” a field of eight down to one — Tom Emmer of Minnesota — Kimmel had this to say:

“They picked him, and then they kicked him out in four hours. It was crazy. This morning I didn’t even know who Tom Emmer was, now I still don’t. I have no idea. Altoids last longer than these Republican nominees.”

On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, along with highlighting Emmer’s upside down Zoom meeting blunder from 2021, he also joked about the up-and-down day Emmer had on Tuesday.

“Yep, this morning Emmer ordered 1,000 business cards and this afternoon his assistant was like, ‘I’m gonna go ahead and cancel that order.’”

Late Night With Seth Meyers also touched on the news, with the host quipping: “Republicans have nominated Minnesota representative Tom Emmer for Speaker of the House, but it remains to be seen whether Emmer can get past these ef-ers,” while showing a three-way photo of Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan and Lauren Boebert.

And on The Daily Show, guest host Desus Nice joked about“poor bastard” Emmer's brief speakership bid by saying, “Martin Scorsese is out there makin' movies that last longer than Speaker candidates.”

Other notable moments

The late-night fun also included a sketch with Fallon and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger telling each other deep truths while sitting in a walk-in freezer.

Meanwhile, Kimmel surprised his own daughter in a pre-taped bit where they picked up a “hitchhiking” Olivia Rodrigo while on their way to school, which elicited a wholesome and hilarious reaction from Kimmel’s Rodrigo-loving daughter.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers air on NBC; Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs on ABC; The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs on CBS; The Daily Show airs on Comedy Central.