Seth Myers poked fun at Donald Trump’s “army” of Republican “puppets” that have taken it upon themselves to act as the former president’s mouthpiece while he’s prohibited from speaking publicly about his hush money trial.
In March, Mr Trump, 77, was issued a gag order from Justice Juan Merchan, who’s overseeing the criminal trial, in an attempt to stop him from making statements about jurors, witnesses and families of the judge and prosecutors.
This week, an army of Maga faithfuls have attended Manhattan Criminal Court in a show of solidarity with the former president, with the latest being Colorado’s Lauren Boebert and Florida’s Matt Gaetz.
These GOP lawmakers were just some of Mr Trump’s loyalists in the firing line on Thursday’s episode of Late Night with Seth Myers.
“Well, I get it. It’s good publicity for Boebert and good practice for Gaetz,” the host said.
“You see, Trump is under a gag order and can’t attack people involved in the case the way he wants to, so his workaround is to summon his army of puppets to do his bidding,” he added.
Ms Boebert and Mr Gaetz arrived at the New York City courthouse on Thursday where Mr Trump is on trial charged with falsifying business records over alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels to quash claims of an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Trump denies all 34 felony counts against him and accusations of an affair.
The two members of Congress, however, could do something the presumptive Republican presidential candidate could not: speak publicly about key figures in the trial.
“We are here of our own volition, because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” Mr Gaetz told reporters outside of the court.
He added that prosecutors had made up “the Mr Potato Head of crimes” to bring Trump to trial.
“I’ll never stop standing up for President Trump, even if I’m the last one standing,” Ms Boebert chimed in.
Mr Meyers heckled the pair for their unwavering show of support for the former president.
“If you’re on trial for a criminal charge where character is central to the case, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert aren’t exactly the role models you want with you in the room,” he said.
“That’s like if OJ [Simpson]’s buddy at his trial were Charles Manson, Hannibal Lecter,” the host teased.
Inside the courtroom, Ms Boebert and Mr Gaetz sat in the first row behind the defense table. Mr Gaetz sat next to Mr Trump’s son, Eric Trump, occasionally speaking to one another.
Mr Myers quipped that “sitting front row at the Trump trial must be like the Mega version of sitting courtside at a Knicks game”.
It comes a day after House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson attended Mr Trump’s trial in New York on Wednesday, and received scathing criticism after skipping a House session.
