Late-night hosts on Monday discussed Donald Trump’s pick for the supreme court, which was revealed after most shows taped but preceded by the president’s attempts to gin up suspense for his televised announcement.
“Donald Trump has announced his pick for the supreme court, one assumes,” began Stephen Colbert. “We taped this show a few hours before the announcement, so no one tell me how Roe v Wade ends.”
Trump, of course, selected Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative 53-year-old federal appeals court judge and former aide to president George W Bush, to replace the seat vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy, formerly the swing vote on a bench split evenly between conservative and liberal justices.
“On Sunday afternoon, he still had not made his final decision on a supreme court nominee,” Colbert went on. “We’ve all been there. It’s Sunday night, you’ve got a supreme court nomination due, but you’re procrastinating.”
“But Trump swears he’s taking the task seriously,” the host added. “Today, he tweeted: ‘I have long heard that the most important decision a US President can make is the selection of a Supreme Court Justice.”
“What do you mean you have long heard?” the host asked. “Are you still asking people what your job is?”
Colbert continued: “Trump considers it a crucial decision because yesterday, while he was at his country club in Bedminster, the Jersey White House, as no one calls it, he was being advised by Sean Hannity.”
Hannity, the host added, “apparently got some bang for his blather,” as some White House aides reportedly complained that Trump’s decision to announce the pick at 9pm was engineered to boost the Fox anchor’s ratings.
Colbert concluded: “We’ll have more on this continuing story as … America continues?”
Jimmy Kimmel also discussed Trump’s supreme court rollout, during which the president was said to be considering Kavanaugh, Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge, and Amy Coney Barrett.
“Tonight was a bigly night for our celebrity president,” Kimmel began. “Tonight from the White House, the primetime supreme court nominee special, hosted by you-know-who.”
“It was on all the major networks,” the host added. “It even interrupted The Bachelorette here at ABC, which is a no-no.”
“Trump, as he has been known to do, announced his announcement multiple times on Twitter,” Kimmel said, running down a list of Trump’s anticipatory tweets.”
In one post over the weekend, Trump wrote, “Big decision will soon be made on our next Justice of the supreme court!” A day later, Trump tweeted he was “looking forward to announcing my final decision,” adding his selection will be “an exceptional person.” Finally, on Monday, he wrote: “I have long heard that the most important decision a US President can make is the selection of a supreme court justice.”
“‘I have long heard’ for Donald Trump means they said it this morning on Fox and Friends,” Kimmel joked. “I don’t know why he has to be so dramatic about this kind of thing. No one needs more suspense. Just give us the name of your nominee so we can move on with our terrifying lives.”
