Jimmy Kimmel has found the perfect nickname for Donald Trump, and it is a play on the moment the president was caught napping at a September 11 memorial ceremony. On Tuesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! the late-night host called him “Teddy Doze-evelt,” a pun that landed as darkly comic.
“At the event, Teddy Doze-evelt got in a pretty good nap,” Kimmel said. “He was sleeping so much on camera the White House had to put out a statement and said he wasn’t asleep; they said he was just ‘solemnly listening.'”
Kimmel added a quip tying the phrase to Melania Trump. “Which is the same kind of ‘solemnly listening’ Melania does when he tries to crawl in bed with her,” he said.
Nodding Off on Camera
Kimmel played a montage of clips that showed Trump appearing to nod off during several events. The sequence included instances where he seemed to drift off while attending gatherings.
- His own inauguration
- His Fourth of July fireworks parade
- The NBA Finals
- His Freedom 250 concert
- The Pope’s funeral
- Lindsey Graham’s funeral
- Several Oval Office announcements
- Many Cabinet meetings
The comedian noted one point in Trump’s favor. “I will say this, compared to Mitch McConnell, Trump has more energy than Kevin Hart,” Kimmel said.
McConnell’s Return to Work
Kimmel showed a piece of video featuring Senator Mitch McConnell, who is 84 years old, coming back to work following a 92-day break from appearing in public. The senator was put into the hospital on June 14 after he fell.
He returned to the Senate floor in a wheelchair. In the clip, reporters try to get a word with McConnell, who appears to look dazed. “He seems good, right?” Kimmel joked. “For months, no one was sure if he was even alive. We still don’t know!”
The AI Dig
Kimmel also addressed the recent warnings about artificial intelligence and its threat to humanity elsewhere in his speech. Trump has dismissed the worries and said that AI is under control.
“You know why [Trump] doesn’t want to stop AI?” Kimmel asked. He then highlighted the president’s obsession with posting AI-generated images of himself. “Because the only thing he knows how to use it for is to be Jesus, the Green Lantern, and Hulk Hogan at the same time.”
The Nickname and the Montage
The “Teddy Doze-evelt” nickname works because it is specific to the moment. Trump was caught napping at a ceremony meant to honor those killed on September 11, and the White House’s response — calling it “solemnly listening” — became part of the joke.
The montage put together by Kimmel included scenes of Trump dozing through events from his inauguration all the way to Cabinet meetings, with each clip building on the nickname that the habit had earned him.
McConnell’s Health Situation
Earlier this week, McConnell came back to the Senate floor in a wheelchair after a fall that had landed him in the hospital on June 14. The Kentucky senator had stayed away from public view for 92 days.
The dazed look in the clip highlighted the worry that had dogged McConnell since he went missing. Kimmel’s question — “He seems good, right?” — summed up the mix of relief and lingering doubt that remained afterward.
The Show’s Schedule
The late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! runs weeknights at 35:11/35:10, on ABC. Viewers can see the entire opening monologue by watching the episode directly.
The late-night circuit will keep going, and Kimmel has already moved on to his next guest.
See the video the story is built around at Tvinsider.
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