Jimmy Kimmel on the hypocrisy of Trump playing golf

Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue ripped President Donald Trump for playing golf over the weekend.

President Donald Trump’s Twitter account and golf habits are two of the easiest targets in late night television. Rarely does the president choose to use either at the right time. But President Trump’s decision to play a round of golf as the pandemic hit a new milestone took things to a new level for Jimmy Kimmel.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the only late night television show airing new episodes this week. It means that Kimmel has the spotlight to himself when it comes to reacting to President Trump’s press briefings, tweets, and “exercise” routines.

Exercise is what the president called his round of golf over Memorial Day weekend. It came as the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 neared 100,000 people. Critics ripped President Trump for the optics but as Kimmel later pointed out, the president has never cared about optics.

In the past, late night hosts have joked that it is better for President Trump to be on a golf course than in the Oval Office. They have mocked him for being a rumored cheat on the course. And they have criticized him for the cost and frequency of his golf outings. On Tuesday night, Kimmel called the president a hypocrite and more for his golf game:

Jimmy Kimmel flashed back to Donald Trump criticizing President Obama for playing golf.

Thanks to his countless tweets and television interviews before ever running for president, Donald Trump has said a lot of things on the record. There are Reddit pages, Twitter accounts, and late night monologues dedicated to how President Trump has contradicted himself on a variety of issues.

Kimmel used this to support his claim that President Trump’s most recent round of golf was a demonstration of “brazen hypocrisy.” Donald Trump was very harsh on President Barack Obama for playing golf during an Ebola outbreak in 2014. Yet the Ebola outbreak pales in comparison to the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The hypocrisy also extended to Fox News. Kimmel tacks on a recent clip from the cable news network defending President Trump’s golf game as a show of leadership. Kimmel isn’t exactly surprised but that doesn’t mean he won’t call it out when he sees it.

This is by no means the first time President Donald Trump has been blasted by late night hosts and others for playing golf. Whether or not the backlash during a pandemic is enough for him to put the clubs away for a bit remains to be seen. Fans can be sure that Jimmy Kimmel will be watching closely. For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.