Jimmy Kimmel has roasted Donald Trump with a humiliating comparison as Republicans desperately try to drum up outrage over a joke made by former President Barack Obama.
During Thursday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host riffed on how the president and the GOP are focusing on Obama saying Trump’s tacky White House renovations looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory” in the crucial run-up to Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“The right-wing media jumped on this one too. They said Obama was a snob; how dare he say that about the Cheesecake Factory? What an elitist! Blah blah blah,” Kimmel said.
“All the people who scream that the left can’t take a joke, screaming about this joke.”
Kimmel then played a clip of Obama responding to the manufactured MAGA controversy over the quip during a campaign rally in Georgia on Wednesday.
“I am old enough to remember when a president wearing a tan suit was a major national controversy,” Obama said, referring to the choice of clothing he wore in 2014, which somehow resulted in several days of outrage. “They were very upset, and I know I look good in that suit.”
After playing the clip, Kimmel asked, “How did we have that, and now we have this?” referring to the change of presidents from Obama to Trump. “It’s as if we traded in a Ferrari for a folding chair.”
Trump gave a long, meandering response on Monday when asked about Obama comparing his Mar-a-Lago-esque makeover of the White House to the inside of a Cheesecake Factory.
“Guys like Obama don’t see it, he don’t see dirt. He doesn’t see filth. He doesn’t see broken ornaments on a building,” Trump said.
“The White House to President Obama is a symbol of America. It has to be clean. The columns can’t be broken. The bricks can’t be falling off from under the plaster. And for you to say it to Cheesecake Factory, that just shows why you’re a lousy president.”
Kimmel then played another clip of Obama doubling down on his earlier remarks and mocking the meltdown they had caused.
“The president wasn’t even mad about the Saddam Hussein comparison,” Obama said. “That part didn’t bother him, but he was very upset about the Cheesecake Factory.”
“In fairness to Trump, the menu at the Cheesecake Factory is the closest he gets to reading a book,” Kimmel said.
