Failed Television Host, Donald Trump, Says Late-Night Is 'Dying'

By Andrew Sanford | Politics | September 25, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Politics | September 25, 2024 |

Late-night talk shows are dying. I haven’t been shy about covering that here. It’s a shame, too. Yes, the world changes. Art changes. That is nothing new. Still, I’ve always been enamored with late-night talk shows. They’re packed with celebs, jokes, big bands, and, occasionally, some great conversations. They also used to regularly feature Donald Trump.

Like most shills and con men, Trump needs an audience to hock his wares. He also loves attention, which has potentially doomed this country. Long before he was attempting to destroy democracy, Trump was a fixture on late-night talk shows. Hell, he infamously managed to continue that trend early into his first presidential campaign. Now, he is older and bitterer and lashing out at his once-favorite shows.

Trump railed against late-night hosts at a recent rally in Philadelphia (because who needs policy?). He claimed that late night is ‘dying.” After playing a clip of Jimmy Fallon and Kamala Harris, Trump exclaimed, “He’s not very funny.”

“Those three guys are being blown away by [Fox News’] Gutfeld,” Trump told his crowd. “When I first ran in 2015 or was thinking about running I went on [Jimmy’s] show, The Tonight Show, which is dying. They’re all dying. Where is Johnny Carson? Bring back Johnny. It made you appreciate the greatness of Johnny Carson. These three guys are so bad.”

“I don’t like anybody that doesn’t like me,” Trump continued. “I’ll be honest when they don’t like me, I don’t like them. OK? Sounds childish … That’s the way it is. Call it a personality defect.” As I said up top, Trump is not wrong here. Late-night talk shows are not long for this Earth. That doesn’t have to do with Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, or Jimmy Fallon. It does have to do with Greg Gutfeld!

Gutfeld is a sneering little boy who laughs like he’s about to shoot Spider in the foot. He’s an insecure lackey, constantly kowtowing to men he thinks are bigger than him (literally and figuratively). Of course, he loves Trump and Trump loves him. Gutfeld’s late-night show does do well in the ratings. That’s because fewer and fewer people are watching TV in a “traditional” manner. Most people get their late-night fixes from YouTube and social media clips. People watching Gutfeld live on Fox News don’t know what YouTube is and likely won’t live long enough to find out.

Trump praising Gutfeld while lamenting late-night’s downfall shows his fundamental misunderstanding of the situation. Society is moving on from certain “content” (shudder). There are podcasts, TikTok, and Flubal to fill that void (okay, I made that last one up). Things change! But Donald Trump doesn’t. He’s still mean, self-centered, out of touch, and trying to use late-night talk shows to boost his relevancy. Sad.