Jimmy Kimmel on impeachment: 'This will be the first draft Trump can't dodge'

Jimmy Kimmel

It was a historic day in Washington on Thursday, as the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announced in a morning press conference that the House will press ahead with the impeachment process against Donald Trump. “That’s right, the House judiciary committee will now draft articles of impeachment against the president of the United States,” said Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday night. “This is big – this will be the first draft Donald Trump can’t dodge. It’s coming.”

The president, naturally, lashed out at the development on Twitter, urging Democrats “if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast”.

“That’s exactly what Melania says to him I believe the third Friday of every month,” Kimmel joked. “For weeks, one of the talking points for Republicans has been that Democrats are rushing the impeachment process; now, Trump says do it now, fast – a rare moment of discord.”

Related: Trevor Noah: Trump realized 'all the cool kids at school are laughing' at him

Trump “also unveiled a new, new defense”, tweeting that when he said “I would like you to do us a favor, though” on his phone call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, “with the word ‘us’, I am referring to the United States, our country”.

“Well why didn’t you say that awhile ago?” Kimmel retorted. “That explains everything. He’s the president of the us! And you know this has to be true because it took him two months to come up with it.”

Stephen Colbert

On the Late Show, Stephen Colbert also recapped Pelosi’s announcement – a stunning development yet still deep in the tunnel of the impeachment process. “That’s right, after opening an inquiry into the possibility of impeachment, then reading the impeachment report and considering the impeachment options, we’ve finally made it to the beginning of the end of the starting, and we’re about to start the beginning of the middle,” Colbert said.

Colbert also replayed a tense moment when a reporter at the press conference asked Pelosi why she hated Trump. “I still pray for the president,” Pelosi retorted. “I pray for the president all the time. So don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that.”

“Yes, Nancy Pelosi prays for the president – and I pray for that reporter,” Colbert said, then imitated the reporter: “Um, Madam Speaker, follow-up question? Could I have my balls back?”

Trevor Noah

And on the Daily Show, Trevor Noah examined the impeachment hearings held one day before Pelosi’s announcement, in which four constitutional legal scholars testified before the House judiciary committee, and “most of them agreed that DJT needs to GTFO”.

For example, the professor Michael Gerhardt said: “If what we’re talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable.” “Wow,” said Noah. “Most of us thought that sounded powerful but Trump probably thinks that just means he can do whatever he wants. He heard that and he thought, ‘Yay, nothing is impeachable!’”

The three experts called by the Democrats all testified that “Trump’s actions were, like, super impeachable”, Noah recapped. “But according to the Republicans on the committee, these people weren’t saying this because they’re constitutional scholars. No, they’re saying it because they’re drinking Trump haterade.”

Noah then played a clip in which the Republican congressman Tom McClintock of California tried unsuccessfully to convince the experts to raise their hands if they voted for Donald Trump. “Can we just agree that people in power should never be asking anyone who they voted for?” Noah said. “It’s not part of a healthy democracy. There’s a reason there’s a curtain on the voting booth: it’s so you can cast your vote in secret and then shower afterwards.”