Jimmy Fallon has deleted footage from Trump’s disastrous HBO interview
By Matt Moore
Jimmy Fallon piled on President Donald Trump for his HBO interview
President Donald Trump’s interview with journalist Jonathan Swan for HBO is all anyone can talk about right now. Unfortunately for the White House, none of it paints the president in a positive light. And now The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has pulled together some footage not seen on air.
Previews of the interview released online immediately went viral. When the full conversation aired on HBO, President Trump was immediately the subject of mockery while Swan was praised for his line of questioning.
The president evaluated the pandemic as “it is what it is,” cited vague manuals and books as support for his actions, avoided questions on confronting Vladimir Putin, refused to say if he’d accept the results of the election if he loses, and wished Ghislaine Maxwell well once again.
Swan’s use of basic follow up questions and refusal to let the president talk in circles was an approach long overdue. It also created moments ripe for ridicule for late-night television.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon made the most of the footage in Tuesday’s monologue. Jimmy Fallon then revealed that the show had access to footage not seen in the original interview. Check it out right here:
Jimmy Fallon finds jokes in an interview that was beyond parody
Many people who watched President Trump’s interview with Jonathan Swan compared it to a Saturday Night Live sketch. In a presidency full of moments that felt beyond parody, the HBO interview definitely stands out. Still, The Tonight Show and Jimmy Fallon found an angle to pump out even more jokes at President Trump’s expense.
Fallon definitely benefits from being back at 30 Rock and the Tonight Show studio for this bit. It would have been hard to pull off without the green screen and the professional hair and make-up to turn the comedian into the president.
While Fallon scores points against President Trump over charts and “it is what it is,” it’s the more subtle moments of the parody that help elevate it. The sniffs are a nice touch from Fallon as are the cutaway shots of Jonathan Swan’s reactions to the real interview.
What did you think of this parody from Jimmy Fallon? Share your thoughts in the comment section. Keep checking Last Night On for more highlights from The Tonight Show and the rest of late-night television.