Late-Night TV
“Our long national nightmare is finally different”
Mike Johnson was elected Speaker of the House yesterday and the late-night hosts have weighed in on his selection following a long, dramatic process from Republicans.
On The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon noted that the Republicans finally elected someone after three weeks of delays. “Yep, they found someone just in time,” Fallon said. “If the job had stayed open any longer it would have automatically gone to Ryan Seacrest.” He added, “Republicans said Johnson is their first choice… after the first 10 choices lost. Then him.”
On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy Kimmel was delighted to discuss the “anti-gay, anti-choice, pro-conspiracy” Johnson. “If you follow this sort of thing you know it’s a very big day,” he said. “After three long weeks with no one driving this filthy Greyhound bus we call America we finally have a Speaker of the House.” After he announced it was Johnson, the crowd booed and Kimmel replied, “I never heard of him either, but I learned about him today… He seems terrific.”
He added that Mike Johnson is not only not right for the job, but he’s probably not even the best Mike Johnson out there. “He might not even make the list of the top 10 Mike Johnsons,” Kimmel said.
Stephen Colbert was ready with the jokes on The Late Show as well. “Our long national nightmare is finally different,” the late-night host informed the audience, adding that he was calling the show’s coverage of the House drama “Psycho Killers.” “They’re dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb,” he said in tune to the Talking Heads song.
On Late Night, Seth Meyers commented, “I think they’re trying to bore everyone into forgetting how extreme he is. Mike Johnson is the fake name they give you when you call tech support so it sounds like you’re talking to someone in Kansas when you’re definitely talking to someone in Albania.”