Jimmy Kimmel opened Wednesday’s (November 13) episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! by focusing on Donald Trump‘s cabinet picks, saying, “We thought it would be crazy… it is so much crazier than anyone ever imagined.”
“The clown car is filling up fast,” the late-night host said in his opening monologue, pointing specifically to Trump’s nomination of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.
Gaetz was previously investigated by the House Ethics Committee for allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. He was also under investigation by the Department of Justice in 2021 for allegedly sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz denied all allegations.
“You know, in a lot of jobs, being investigated for sex trafficking underage girls would hurt your chance for advancement,” Kimmel said. “But in the Trump administration, you can list it on your résumé under special skills.”
“The Pizzagate gang is going to be furious about this, I’m sure, aren’t they?” he added. “What a team [Trump’s] put together. It’s the Legion of Dumb.”
Kimmel then turned his attention to another of Trump’s controversial cabinet picks, Fox and Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth, whom the president-elect has suggested as his secretary of defence.
“There’s nothing more intimidating than a morning talk show host. It’s why Regis was so valuable to JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Kimmel quipped.
He then threw to a clip of Hegseth in a Fox News segment where he took part in an axe-throwing competition and missed the target, hitting a musician playing nearby. “That’s the man who will soon be in charge of the most powerful weapons in the history of the world,” Kimmel noted.
The comedian continued, “This is why you can’t let Trump watch TV while he’s picking his Cabinet. ‘Mr. President, who should be in charge of housing and urban development?’ ‘How about Tom Selleck? He seems to know about these reverse mortgages. He’s all over them.’”
He also touched on Trump’s pick of former U.S. representative Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, joking that her new role “could interfere with her other job working for Russian national intelligence.”
You can watch Kimmel’s full opening monologue in the video above.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35pm ET/PT, ABC
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