Leftist late night hosts give their take on Trump-Musk fallout
Gleeful late-night hosts took victory laps around President Donald Trump and Elon Musk Thursday as they delighted in the pair falling out. Across the board, the MAGA-hating panel of hosts rejoiced in the spat. They repeated Musk's claim that Trump is 'named in the Epstein files', mocked SpaceX 's record of exploding rockets and questioned what Trump would now do with his Tesla.
The spat made for easy material for the hosts, who are struggling to maintain ratings with a tired format. Among the most delighted was Jimmy Fallon . 'You can tell Trump is really mad at Elon because earlier today he was seen driving a Prius,' the former SNL star noted. 'Trump said he hasn't felt this betrayed since McDonald's started putting apple slices in Happy Meals. 'It's orange vs. white,' he added. 'It's like watching a creamsicle attack itself.'
Over on CBS, Stephen Colbert sang a similar tune, also reveling in the rift between whom he smarmily put as 'the world's most famous besties'. It all happened on social media, serving as easy ammo for the hosts. 'So now Donald Trump is a Tesla owner who hates Elon Musk?' Colbert asked during a more than 12-minute monologue devoted to the subject. 'He's never been more relatable.'
He then honed in Musk's claim that Trump is 'in the [Jeffrey] Epstein files' - documents involving the late financier and his alleged accomplices spread out across various probes and lawsuits that have been mostly kept classified. 'Trump's going to have to get one of those bumper stickers for his Tesla that says "I bought this before Elon told everyone I was on Epstein's plane,"' Colbert quipped, as hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers offered similar, smug material.
'The real truth is that Musk is mad about the things that affect him, like cutting the electric vehicle tax credit, not using his company Starlink for air traffic control, and that they pulled his friend's nomination for head of NASA,' Kimmel laughed on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! 'What Elon Musk cares about is Elon Musk,' he further noted on his ABC show, before bringing the First Lady into the mix 'Now, between Elon and Melania, Trump now has two foreigners who won't sleep with him. 'I feel bad for Donald Trump,' he then added. 'I mean, first, he lost Jeffrey Epstein, now, Elon. He's running out of friends.
'You know, I knew this day would come, and yet, somehow, it's even better than I imagined,' he kept on. 'It's like coming down the stairs on Christmas morning and finding a second tree.' On Late Night, Seth Meyers showed similar bias, labeling the feud over 'Trump's Big Beautiful bill' a 'stunning turn of events'. The comic then offered some uncharacteristic stern words. 'Things have been bad for Elon, which is what happens to everyone who sells their soul to Trump.'
The Daily Show's Michael Kosta, filling in for Jon Stewart, also commented on the quarrel. He sarcastically opened the show with: 'America, tonight we are a nation at war.' 'I thought these two billionaires with the world's biggest egos would work it out amicably.' the Daily Show senior correspondent said sarcastically. 'Washington is a lot like high school and not just because all the politicians are trying to date high-schoolers.' Fallon further fanned the flames with a reference to the recent Blur Origin broadcast live by rival CBS, which featured a crew of pop stars, TV personalities, and Jeff Bezos's fiancée.
'Trump said that the easiest way for the country to save money would be to terminate all of Elon Musk's government contracts,' Fallon set-up. 'Smart, now the future of space exploration rests on Katy Perry.' Colbert, meanwhile, went as far as to mimic Musk's accent, while further fanning the flames surrounding Musk's claims Trump is linked to a convicted pedophile. 'Donald Trump, was a sexual predator that preyed on young women, which is something I've only decided to tell you because he hurt my feelings,' he said, speaking as if he were the Tesla boss.
'I am the hero of the story!' A White House official on Thursday said Trump and Musk were scheduled to speak in person on Friday. The official did not give a time for the call, which could ease the feuding after an extraordinary day of hostilities. Meanwhile, late night, as a format, is on the decline. Numbers show Greg Gutfeld's late night-styled Fox alternative attracting the largest average nightly audience of the field - something unthinkable just a decade ago. Epstein, moreover, died in prison in 2019 after being convicted. He and Trump were once close friends.
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