Late-night hosts talk tension within Donald Trump’s transition team over the presence of Elon Musk, Matt Gaetz not returning to Congress and Wicked’s box office dominance.
Seth Meyers
Seth Meyers checked in with the incoming Trump administration on Monday evening, amid reports that Trump’s team has grown frustrated with his adviser Elon Musk acting like a “co-president” and “making sure everyone knows it”.
“Yeah, of course he is,” the Late Night host said. “The guy has $300bn in the bank, do you really think he wants to hear somebody else’s ideas? Hell, if I had $1bn, you couldn’t tell me shit.”
Even Trump seemed a little exasperated with the richest man in the world. In a speech over the weekend, the incoming president talked at length about Musk staying at Mar-a-Lago, remarking: “I can’t get him out of here!”
“You know, my goal these days is to try to stay in a good mood about things, and nothing is making me feel better than the fact that Donald Trump finally got his own Donald Trump,” Meyers laughed.
Reports claim that chaos rules supreme at Mar-a-Lago, with “shouting matches” and name-calling among his transition team. “It hasn’t even been three weeks since the election and they’re already descending into name-calling and shouting,” Meyers explained. “That’s what the Democrats are supposed to be doing! Stop stealing their moves! This is supposed to be the fun time where you’re basking in the win and projecting confidence.
“I can’t even imagine what the White House is going to be like when they actually take over and have real responsibilities,” he continued. “Everyone is going to be inside throwing chairs and dodging fists while Trump tries to sneak out with his golf clubs like an elderly Ray Romano.”
Meyers attributed one of Trump’s biggest missteps so far – choosing Matt Gaetz as attorney general – to said chaos. Trump picked Gaetz, who was under investigation for sexual misconduct by the House ethics committee before he resigned from Congress and withdrew from consideration, in about 15 minutes while aboard a plane, as his chief of staff was in the other room, unaware. “The lesson here is that if you leave Trump unsupervised for a second, he’ll do something insane,” said Meyers. “That should work out great for a president who will be 82 by the end of his term.”
Jimmy Kimmel
And in Los Angeles, Jimmy Kimmel celebrated Wicked’s $165m opening weekend, the biggest opening for a film adaptation of a Broadway musical ever. Wicked easily surpassed the other big premiere of the weekend, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, to win the box office. “Wicked crushed Gladiator II. It was kinda the opposite of the election in a lot of ways,” Kimmel quipped.
In other news, Gaetz joined the pay-for-video app Cameo. “Last week, he was a congressman nominated for attorney general. This week, he’s begging for money on the same website as the lady from Chimp Crazy and the Rizzler,” Kimmel laughed.
“This is the circle of disgraced politician life now: Congress, Cameo, next thing you know you’re a banana on The Masked Singer,” he added.
Gaetz has already made at least 13 videos for $500 each. “Less than two weeks ago, Matt Gaetz was a member of Congress,” he said. “Now he’s sitting around in his underwear making videos.
“Let’s hope Matt’s Cameo goes better than his Venmo went,” Kimmel quipped, referring to Gaetz’s alleged payments for sex on the app.
Gaetz may no longer be a part of the incoming administration, but Trump’s team remains chock-full of controversial picks. As Kimmel put it: “Between RFK Jr, Tulsi Gabbard and Dr Oz, Trump is filling out his team the way most people fill out Mad Libs – with crazy choices.”
