Jimmy Kimmel questioned the White House’s explanation for the giggle heard during Donald Trump’s recent C-SPAN call, declaring it made “very little sense.”
During Wednesday’s monologue for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” the late night host told his studio audience there was a follow-up to his prior commentary about Trump’s call into C-SPAN.
“Here’s another mystery that needs to be solved,” Kimmel said. “I showed a clip last night of President Trump calling into C-SPAN. They have a new call-in show, and I guess he couldn’t resist calling in, and he surprised the host, and when she answered the call, we heard a woman laughing who definitely wasn’t the first lady.”
Kimmel then played the clip once more for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” viewers, and a giggle could be heard as the president began to speak.
“Okay, so we know from an interview he did last week that his assistant Natalie [Harp], one of her jobs is to place these calls. And we presumed the woman laughing was Natalie,” Kimmel noted. “But for whatever reason, with all the many problems they have on their plate, the White House felt the need to issue a statement about this pushing back. They said, ‘The laugh is leftover audio from a previous caller who had not disconnected yet.’”
However, Kimmel declared this explanation made “very little sense,” noting how viewers heard “the president first and the previous caller was a guy, named Doug.”
“But what makes even less sense is the fact that they released a statement about this,” he continued. “It’s like some kind of Gigglegate. I would have forgotten about it already. It kind of makes you wonder why they’re so eager to deny that it was Natalie’s laugh.”
Kimmel then lobbed a zinger that both mocked the White House secretary and the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who recently made headlines for laughing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“It’s not like she was laughing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” Kimmel said. “She’s allowed to laugh. President Trump quite famously prefers women who smile. And Natalie does. She smiles. She does a lot for the president. She’s famous for it.”
A representative for the White House did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
