If Jimmy Kimmel was surprised by Donald Trump's election victory, then consider the late-night TV host outright shocked by the president-elect's cabinet picks. Kimmel's monologue described Trump's cabinet as a "clown car" crazier than anyone imagined.
No one in late-night TV took Trump's win as hard as Kimmel. Following the election, the comedian delivered an emotional monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!that stood in contrast to the disbelief and anger demonstrated by other personalities.
Kimmel didn't have much time to get over it before Trump started making headlines with his cabinet picks. Days after naming Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem as cabinet nominations, the 47th president announced plans for Matt Gaetz as attorney general, Fox and Friends Weekend host Pete Hegseth as scretary of defense, and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
"We thought it would be crazy," Kimmel said of Trump's hires. "But it's so much crazier than anyone ever imagined."
Kimmel made his way through the list and mocked each pick. He called out Hegseth for his lack of experience, joking that the Fox News personality couldn't even make it to the weekday version of Fox and Friends. "This is why you can't let Trump watch TV while he's picking his cabinet," Kimmel said. The comedian guessed we're not far off from Tom Selleck running Housing and Urban Development.
The comedian also had something to say about Tulsi Gabbard running national intelligence. "It could interfere with her other job working for Russian national intelligence," he quipped.
Jimmy Kimmel calls all Trump's picks reasonable compared to Attorney General Matt Gaetz
Jimmy Kimmel's monologue saved the best for last. Kimmel admitted that the Rubio, Noem, Hegseth, and Gabbard picks all seem reasonable compared to appointing Matt Gaetz as attorney general.
Kimmel didn't hold back in his reaction and ensured everyone watching was reminded of the investigation focused on Gaetz. "You know, at a lot of jobs, being investigated for sex trafficking underage girls would hurt you chance for advancement," Kimmel said. "But in the Trump administration, you can list it on your resume under 'special skills.'"
The segment wrapped up with Kimmel wondering if the conspiracy theorists who fixated on "Pizzagate" will have anything to say about Trump's picks. Kimmel was still in disbelief as he dropped one more punchline and dubbed Trump's cabinet the "Legion of Dumb."
There are still more cabinet positions to be filled, so we can expect Donald Trump to announce more appointments in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned to see if Jimmy Kimmel can be any more shocked than he is today.