When it comes to President Donald Trump and late-night TV, it doesn't matter the show or the host. The president will respond. The latest example came as Rosie O'Donnell wrapped up her stint as a Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest host, where she caught the attention of Trump's White House.
O'Donnell ended her return to television on Thursday night, serenading the president with a parody of "Danny Boy." The actress and comedian, who now lives in Ireland full time, mocked President Trump for his poll numbers, the Iran war, and White House vanity projects, among other things.
Clearly, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was on in the White House even with Jimmy Kimmel out on his annual summer hiatus. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, a Trump administration official gave a scathing review of O'Donnell.
"Rosie O’Donnell is a nasty woman and a total slob whose brain has been completely destroyed by Trump Derangement Syndrome," White House representative Davis Ingle said.
It was inevitable that President Trump or his White House would respond to O'Donnell. He's had a decades-long feud with the former View host, and that's part of the reason Kimmel invited O'Donnell to step in for him this summer.
President Trump rarely missed (or created) an opportunity to hurl a personal insult toward O'Donnell over the years. O'Donnell has never been shy about responding, calling out Trump's reputation in New York and criticizing his time in the Oval Office.
That history also made O'Donnell a particularly fitting choice to fill in for Kimmel during his summer hiatus. ABC had already lined up guest hosts including Anthony Anderson and Tiffany Haddish, but putting O'Donnell behind Kimmel's desk guaranteed that Trump would have another familiar target to watch. O'Donnell knew as much, predicting that the president would be watching when she began on Monday night.
Of course, the bigger story here may be just how closely Trump and his administration continue to follow late-night television. It doesn't matter the network, show, or host. Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and anyone else seem to find an audience member in Donald Trump.
It may be the norm now for the president and/or his administration to directly respond to late-night television monologues. But that shouldn't make it any less strange that a White House with so many other things on its plate still makes time to react to what comedians are saying on television.
Jimmy Kimmel and Rosie O'Donnell were well aware of this heading into the summer. And as two of President Trump's biggest enemies, they knew the White House would play right into their hands.
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