Jimmy Kimmel Tells Trump to Pick ‘Survivor’ Host Jeff Probst for Top Job
Jimmy Kimmel said American voters could have picked a better reality show host for president than Donald Trump, name-checking the likes of Jeff Probst, Phil Keoghan, and RuPaul.
The late-night host opened Thursday’s (November 14) episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! looking at Trump’s latest cabinet picks, which include Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.
“I have to say it has been one interesting week watching Donald Trump go even crazier than anyone even imagined he would,” Kimmel said in his opening monologue. “He’s running this country like it is a reality show. But instead of Meat Loaf and Dennis Rodman, he’s got Matt Gaetz and Tulsi Gabbard.”
Kimmel went on to say, “You know, if we wanted the host of a reality show to run the country, there were much better choices,” before suggesting Survivor host and executive producer Jeff Probst.
“He’s smart, he’s fair, he wears the kind of safari clothes you used to see in the old movies. He knows how to settle disputes between warring tribes,” the comedian quipped.
He also suggested The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan, saying, “he could strengthen our ties all around the world,” and Drag Race host RuPaul, who Kimmel joked “would throw the most fabulous inauguration party in American history.”
“Or maybe we need to come out guns blazing with Tim Gunn,” Kimmel continued. “Americans love guns. Or we go with the old reliable Ryan Seacrest… president is the only job he hasn’t had yet. Ryan could do this, he never stops working, he’s proved he can stand up to dictators, Simon Cowell, and who knows more about free and fair elections than the man that saved us from Sanjaya.”
He then pointed to Dancing With the Stars hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, joking, “You think old Vlad Putin wouldn’t bend over if he got a call from Julianne Hough? Of course he would.”
Finally, Kimmel said, “Or maybe we go with a president who believes children are our future, so much so that he fathered 25 of them… President Nick Cannon!”
“What I’m trying to say is we screwed up. Donald Trump is like the worst People’s Choice Awards every day now,” the comedian concluded.
Kimmel also mocked Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr. as his health secretary, saying, “Who better to be in charge of health and humans than a guy whose brain was partially devoured by a worm? Trump originally wanted a doctor in that role. Turns out the late, great Hannibal Lector isn’t a real person.”
You can watch Kimmel’s full opening monologue in the video above.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35pm ET/PT, ABC