Jimmy Kimmel dragged former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin into his latest attack on President Donald Trump, joking that she was once a boy named Timmy during a monologue about transgender children that left his studio audience gasping.
The ABC late-night host made the unexpected remark Wednesday while replaying comments Trump delivered at a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, where the president had criticized Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico over his statements about transgender children.
“Talarico stated that he loves transgender children, and that’s alright — but these children, if you check it out and see what happens, they take ’em as young children, and Timmy leaves home and comes back Sarah,” Trump told supporters.
Kimmel seized on the hypothetical example and turned it into a joke about Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee.
“Yeah, now that is true. That’s what happened to Sarah Palin,” Kimmel quipped.
The remark drew an audible gasp from his studio audience before the comedian continued with the fictional story.
“She was Timmy Palin. The doctors got hold of her, they made her a Sarah. And their parents didn’t even know.”
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Kimmel then returned to Trump’s original argument, questioning whether anyone believed the scenario described by the president.
“Does anyone actually believe this? If so, please trust me on this. If you drop off Timmy and he comes home Sarah, you picked up the wrong kid from school.”
The audience broke into applause as Kimmel delivered another instruction to the imaginary parents.
“Turn the car around!” he added.
Palin wasn’t the only figure caught up in Kimmel’s latest round of jokes about Trump. The comedian also went after the president for boasting about the prices at his Mar-a-Lago resort while addressing supporters ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
During a Tuesday rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, Trump had floated the possibility of sending Americans $5,000 payments if Republicans retained control of both chambers of Congress.
The president suggested that recipients could spend the money visiting his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, before joking that the payment might not cover much at the property.
“You could even come to Mar-a-Lago. I said it the other night. You’ll be my guest at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump told the crowd.
“The problem is that for $5,000, the most you’ll be able to buy is a hamburger and maybe a small dessert. I’m not even sure you could buy that.”
When Kimmel played the footage for his audience, the president’s remarks were met with boos.
“Hold on. I have a question. Why are you saying this out loud?” Kimmel asked.
“Why are you telling these people who’ve gathered to see you in their Chinese-made American flag Hawaiian shirts that they can’t afford to eat at your house? How is that helping you?”
The host went on to impersonate Trump’s attitude toward his wealthy social circle, pretending to boast about how expensive it would be for ordinary supporters to visit.
“Me and my friends are so rich you could never eat with us. Hell, you probably couldn’t even afford to park the car,” Kimmel joked.
He also criticized Trump’s repeated promises about the proposed payments, accusing the president of making “ridiculous and relentless” claims.
Kimmel ended that portion of his criticism with a reference to Trump’s renovations at the White House.
“I’ll tell you, for a man who is very proud of the fact that he personally picked out all the marble in the White House, he really seems to be losing his,” the comedian said.
A day earlier, Kimmel had encouraged viewers to repeat an insult directed at Trump by a heckler during a campaign rally in Mississippi.
The protester shouted “Shove that ballroom up your fat ass” before security removed the person from the event.
Kimmel sarcastically suggested the phrase could follow the president to future appearances, even displaying a red T-shirt printed with the heckler’s words.
“You know what would be even worse? If people started printing it on shirts,” he remarked.
“Please, please don’t do this at his next rally tomorrow in Ohio or the next one in South Carolina,” Kimmel added. “Please! It’s beneath us.”
The late-night show also featured California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, with the Democrat predicting that Trump’s political position would change dramatically after the midterms.
“Donald Trump has a sell-by date in six days when his presidency ends as we know it,” Newsom told Kimmel.
The governor predicted Democrats would win back the House of Representatives and suggested the Senate could also change hands, although he acknowledged more uncertainty about that contest.
“This is going to be a blue tsunami,” Newsom declared. “I’m not asserting something that’s not in evidence. You’re seeing all the early voting. It’s off the chart. The energy’s off the chart.”
He characterized a Democratic House victory as a *fait accompli* and argued that the election would restore congressional oversight of the administration.
When Kimmel raised concerns about how Trump might respond to unfavorable election results, Newsom accused the president of preparing to challenge the outcome.
“The only way to defeat that is with margin. If we have a big enough margin in these races, he cannot contest those races,” Newsom argued.
The governor also discussed his personal dealings with Trump, recalling that they spoke frequently during the president’s first term.
“In Trump 1.0, I probably talked to him every single week. The last call I had with him was almost 20 minutes, and it was just this stream of consciousness,” Newsom recalled.
He described a conversation in which Trump discussed imposing tariffs on films from other countries rather than asking about film tax credits.
“He was debating with me about not film tax credits, but how we should have tariffs for films around the globe. [He is] completely incurious. Not one question, no curiosity.”
Newsom ended his discussion by calling on Democrats to change their approach to confronting Trump.
“This is different,” he told Kimmel. “He’s not screwing around. There’s a ruthlessness of Donald Trump. So, again, with love and respect to my party, the Democratic Party, for things to change, we need to change. We’ve got to be more ruthless ourselves.”