We interrupt this website for a Jimmy Kimmel Special. Our regularly schedule Main Story from Last Week Tonight will return tomorrow. This is because on Wednesday, in the midst of his criminal trial in Manhattan as he runs for president, Trump found the time to write a meltdown social media rant against Jimmy Kimmel for reasons known only to him. It dealt with the Oscars, which were five weeks earlier and from which most of the world had moved on. Before we go any further though, here's what Trump wrote -- Kimmel had a great response on Twitter. Replying to this post he wrote, “In fairness to our former President, many stable geniuses confuse me with Al Pacino.....” I’m sure he’ll say something about it on his show tonight. By the way, I responded with something all other respondents missed. I noted that starting all the way back in 1989, the Motional Picture Academy has not said "the famous and mandatory" (sic) line "And the winner is..." -- but instead have long been required to say, "And the Oscar goes to..." Apparently, it seems that the "very stable genius" hasn't noticed this change for the past 35 years! You read this and it's hard not to think, "This is the Republican nominee for president??" Putting aside the attempt to overthrow the government, the rape, the business fraud, the four other indictments, and the whole, y'know, fascism -- even on just this bizarre tweet alone and it's bewildering that there are people who not only don't think he's a malignant narcissist, has borderline dementia, and nuts, but actually think he's smart, a leader, hand-picked by Jesus and should be in charge of the safety and security of the United States and have responsibility for the nuclear bomb. I read a comment that Trump’s rant might have been prompted by a very funny piece Kimmel had done the night before where he used a chalk board to break down Trump’s infantile Gettysburg Wow! analysis. But the thing is, if you’re Trump and so upset that a guy had such a funny, scathing monologue breaking down your words in careful detail, why would you think that if you send a long rant, the guy won’t do the same thing again???! As it happens, I had recorded Kimmel's show that night because they had a guest on who I wanted to see -- but I also wondered if Kimmel would address Trump's tweet. Okay, actually I didn't wonder, I was absolutely sure he would. And not only, of course, did he, but Kimmel dove into Trump immediately. For almost 10 minutes (!), and it was hilarious and scathing. Watching it, I was reminded of the famous admonition about going after newspapers – never attack someone who buys ink by the barrel. Trump trying to go after Kimmel, who clearly relishes such things and is generally magnificent in how he responds, is the electronic equivalent of that. I was going to describe the monologue, but far-better is just watching the full clip. No need to scroll through to the find the part on Trump, he gets into it right off. It’s magnificent and touches every note, include some you don't expect. He even references (although subtly) the point I made about the Oscars long-since past "...and the winner is..." line. This is a maestro at work, who just loves what he's doing.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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