Jimmy Fallon opened The Tonight Show Thursday with a defiant pledge to fearlessly mock President Donald Trump – only for his monologue to be hijacked by a syrupy voice-over praising the president, a pointed skit riffing on the suspension of rival host Jimmy Kimmel and fears of censorship.
Opening the show, Fallon cracked that he had woken up to “100 messages from my dad saying, ‘Sorry they cancelled your show.’”
He followed with bewilderment: “To be honest with you all, I don’t know what is going on. And no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, funny, and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.”
But Fallon quickly pivoted to the heart of his bit, the uneasy climate for satire in the Trump era.
“A lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we’ll be censored,” he told the audience, before promising: “But I’m going to cover the president’s trip to the U.K. just like I normally would.”
It was the set-up for a little theater. Each time Fallon launched into a jab at Trump, his voice was abruptly muted and replaced with a voice-over praising the president.
Fallon’s mocking of Trump’s appearance during his UK trip was silenced as the voice boomed over studio speakers, with the comedian pulling exaggerated facial expressions and continuing his tirade, apparently unaware. At one point, Jeffrey Epstein’s name was dubbed out as the voice-over chimed “Goldblum.”
“To sum it up, the president is –” the host continued, only for the voice to supercede: “Making America great again by restoring our national reputation, reinvigorating our economy, and rebuilding our military. I hereby nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.”
“And you can quote me on that!” Fallon concluded.
Watch above via NBC.
The post Jimmy Fallon’s Trump Tirade ‘Hijacked’ by Fawning Voiceover in Censorship Skit: ‘You Can Quote Me on That!’ first appeared on Mediaite.
