Talk show stages became podiums for the political beliefs of their hosts on Wednesday. People like Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert used their voice and their platform to criticize the election and make it clear that they are disappointed with the outcome.
Kimmel and Colbert, in particular, dropped the pretense of humor almost entirely during their monologues. They preferred to take a more sincere, and concerned approach than usual. The one talk show host who bucked this trend was Jimmy Kimmel. The Tonight Show fixture preferred to take a more measured, and lighter approach to discussing the election results.
Jimmy Kimmel relied on old fashioned jokes
Instead of relying on emotion or pontification, Kimmel leaned into one liners and minor jabs at the Trump administration. "Well, guys last night, America decided to get back with the crazy ex and elect Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States," he told the Tonight Show audience.
Fallon has made a point of avoiding overtly political humor in the past. It has actually been one of the biggest critiques against him, and something he spoke on during an interview with Today in 2017. "It's just not what I do," he opined. "It'd be weird for me to start doing it now."
He has made good on his desire to keep the political rhetoric on The Tonight Show low. Most of his jokes regarding the election were observational, and the sort of light fare that one could have found from Jay Leno in decades prior:
"Republicans were thrilled about last night until they realize it's going to be four more years of Melania's [Trump] Christmas decorations."
The host kept his monologue mostly apolitical
There was a joke that Elon Musk going to Mars that fell a bit flat, and truth be told, the most critical Fallon got with regards to Trump was when he joked about the future President having to put all the classified documents he reportedly took back in the White House.
Kimmel's monologue was probably the most generic of the big four late night hosts, but it did provide respite for those who did not want to delve into the potential severity of the presidency to come. Not yet, at least.