Jimmy Kimmel agreed with Donald Trump’s wild claims that Mother Teresa herself would also not be able to beat the allegations faced by the former president – paying off a pornstar “after a round of golf”.
On the latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, broadcast hours after the historic criminal hush money trial was turned over to the jury, the late show host discussed the explosive final days of the trial, including the absence of former First Lady Melania Trump and the appearance of Hollywood star Robert De Niro.
Deliberations began late on Wednesday morning and — after four questions from jurors regarding specific testimony — will continue on Thursday at 9.30am. Moments after they began the former president called the whole trial “rigged” and suggested that even Mother Teresa wouldn’t be able to escape a conviction.
“These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged,” he told reporters in a hallway outside the 15th-floor courtroom in Manhattan on Wednesday.
“And we have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted he can’t breathe,” he said. ‘He’s got to do his job. It’s a disgrace. Mother Teresa could not beat those charges. But we’ll see. We’ll see how we do. It’s a very disgraceful situation.”
During his opening monologue on Wednesday’s show, Kimmel laughed as he analyzed the comparison made by the former president.
“Yeah, even if Mother Teresa herself had sex with and paid off a porn star after a round of golf, even she would have been getting away with it,” he said. “Mother Teresa has been dead for 27 years… thanks to the corrupt New York Attorney General!”
Turning to the support of the Trump family, Kimmel joked that Melania Trump had not been present for any of the trial because it would be “too hard for her to keep a straight face”.
The comic also took aim at the former president’s son Donald Trump Jr, who had given a defiant speech outside the courtroom on Wednesday, in which he blasted the presence of De Niro, who he claimed “needs attention because it’s been a while since he’s cranked out a good movie”.
Kimmel retorted: “First of all, Robert De Niro was nominated for an Oscar two months ago. And secondly, your father also had one actor at the trial and that actor was Joe Piscopo. Even Joe Piscopo would tell you you lost that one.”
Jury deliberations and a possible verdict in the case may come at a somewhat awkward time for several other late night shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Daily Show – all of which are currently on hiatus, and due to return on 3 June.
Only Jimmy Kimmel Live! is filming as usual, with broadcasts also scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
Mr Trump is accused of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels in October 2016 to ensure her silence about a sexual encounter she alleges she had with him a decade earlier. The former president denies both the affair and the char
“Trump is hoping for a hung jury course he was also hoping for a hung Mike Pence but that didn’t happen,” Kimmel joked, referring to the violent rhetoric espoused by the former president’s supporters, who had called for his then-vice president to be hung.
Kimmel has poked fun at Mr Trump and the trial since it began, delighting in the fact that his show was referenced in court, as prosecutors discussed Ms Daniel’s appearance six years ago.
“From here on, we aren’t just following the Donald Trump drama in New York; we are part of it now,” Kimmel said, reacting to his namecheck in court at the time. “We are part of the official record of The People vs. Donald Trump.”
He also previously told fellow late-night-show host Seth Meyers that even if the former president is found guilty and given prison time, he still plans to be part of Mr Trump’s life.
“If Donald Trump is convicted and has to go to Rikers Island, I’m going to commit a crime in the tri-state area with the goal of getting incarcerated along with him,” Kimmel joked. “So I can drive him insane from the inside, too.”