Jimmy Kimmel called out the Trump administration and House Republicans on Thursday night over their conduct running the government’s ongoing Epstein Files investigation, remarking that those in charge of the inquiry “couldn’t get a job running a Chuck E. Cheese, nevermind Pizzagate.”
The comedian specifically torched House Oversight Committee Chair and Kentucky Republican Congressman James Comer for deposing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “They could bring in someone who actually knew him, someone who Epstein called his closest friend,” Kimmel said, rolling a clip of Trump at a party with Epstein years ago.
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host subsequently relayed part of the prepared statement Clinton read from at the start of her deposition, in which she noted that Trump’s name came up in the Epstein Files “tens of thousands of times.” In response, Kimmel remarked, “That is not correct. Trump’s name did not show up tens of thousands of times. It showed up hundreds of thousands of times. Almost a million of times. But otherwise, she’s correct.”
Directing his attention back at Comer, Kimmel joked, “While you’re at it, why not depose Socks, the Clinton cat? Find out what he — Oh, Socks is dead? Depose him anyway!” Exasperated, he concluded, “These people couldn’t get a job running a Chuck E. Cheese, never mind Pizzagate. It’s so embarrassing.”
Last year, a drawing and note was released that Trump allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday. Trump himself has repeatedly denied that he made the note in question and is currently suing the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion for saying that he drew it. However, Kimmel noted Thursday that one of the released emails from the Epstein files states that Trump and others had been contacted about writing messages for a birthday book for Epstein.
“There are other names in that email, many if not all of whom wrote notes for the book, including someone known as ‘the frog,’” Kimmel explained. “For the love of God, I hope it isn’t Kermit. I really don’t think I could take it… Suddenly, ‘quiet piggy’ is starting to make sense.” Moments later, the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host offered, “You know how you get [Trump] to admit he made that drawing? Tell him it won the Nobel Prize for art.”
The ABC star then briefly touched on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Thursday meeting at the White House with Trump, which Mamdani said was “productive.” Kimmel, for his part, could not help but notice Trump’s smile in the photo that was released after: “He loves Mamdani. I haven’t seen a couple this unlikely since Daphne and Niles from ‘Frasier’ Season 8.”
