Jimmy Kimmel celebrated Democrats’ midterm sweep of the House and Senate on Tuesday, joking that President Donald Trump had been handed a major defeat in a blue wave.
“I’m glad you’re happy,” Kimmel told his audience. “I’m feeling pretty good, too. And if you tuned away from the election coverage, we’re keeping an eye on the people who are keeping an eye on the results as they come in.”
He noted that pollsters named Nate had forecast a blue wave, then joked that it wasn’t the sort that might drag Nicolas Cage’s beach house into the ocean. “And not just a wave—a blue tsunami,” he added.
Democrats win control of both chambers in a major midterm sweep
Kimmel also poked fun at an election model from Harvard that put the odds of Republicans holding the House at the equivalent of rolling a 20 on a 20-sided die. “They could have just said 5%, but someone at Harvard really wanted us to know they play Dungeons & Dragons,” he said, adding that the forecast appeared to be playing out.
After referencing earlier talk about Nicki Minaj’s backside and Jon Husted’s backside, Kimmel quipped that the only one on Trump’s mind that night was the one that had just taken a beating.
The White House, asked to comment, called Kimmel a “loser.” Spokesman Davis Ingle said Kimmel lacked talent, pointed to his declining ratings and accused him of spreading “disgusting lies” to a shrinking audience. Ingle added that people would watch only to laugh at him.
Democrats won back majorities in the House and Senate, with a decisive result that surpassed expectations.
Democrats and Republicans react to the midterm results online
Kimmel was joined on Tuesday by the hosts of the “Pod Save America” podcast, who also celebrated the outcome. He asked whether anyone in Trump’s administration might lose their job. Tommy Vietor said he wasn’t sure, but described himself as hopeful about the country’s direction.
“I think tonight is the beginning of the end of the Trump era in America,” Vietor said.
Kimmel pointed out that he and the four podcast hosts had all worked in former President Barack Obama’s administration during the 2010 midterms. Democrats suffered heavy losses that year, which Obama called a “shellacking.”
Dan Pfeiffer called that election one of the worst nights of their lives, but said he would take some satisfaction in seeing Trump administration staff experience something similar.
Pfeiffer recalled that the team had prepared for three possible outcomes: “not that bad, kind of bad, pretty bad.” The actual result, he said, was worse than all three. They left the White House at 3 a.m., and then-chief of staff Rahm Emanuel warned them the next day would be awful, with people calling for them to be fired.
“And I’m going to enjoy every second of every Trump staffer feeling that way tomorrow,” Pfeiffer said.
