Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Donald Trump After Democratic Blue Wave Midterm Victory

Jimmy Kimmel taped Jimmy Kimmel Live! later than usual on Tuesday night, and the payoff was immediate: while the rest of late night slept, ABC’s host woke up to a projected Democratic sweep of both the House and the Senate and delivered the first monologue of election night. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Kimmel became the first late-night host to take on the results of the 2026 midterm elections, with the show reacting to early returns on a night that saw Democrats projected to win historic, surprise victories in Georgia, Texas, Ohio, South Carolina and Kansas.

That timing mattered. None of the major late-night shows went live on election night. Comedy Central’s The Daily Show was the only other major program to air a new episode Tuesday night, but it was taped before many polls closed. Stephen Colbert regularly took his Late Show live on election nights, but CBS canceled the program last year and it ended in May — leaving Kimmel as the only host with both a show and the flexibility to stay up with the returns.

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The Barbs Came Early and Often

Kimmel opened his monologue by homing in on President Donald Trump’s recent fixation with complimenting people’s rear ends. “It seems to be after all the talk about Nicki Minaj’s ass, Jon Husted’s ass, the only ass on Trump’s mind tonight is the one that just got handed to him,” Kimmel said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He then revived the false 2024 rumor about Vice President J.D. Vance and a couch: “The Democrats took so many seats, J.D. Vance can’t even find one to have sex with him.”

Returning to Trump, Kimmel joked that the president spent the day watching Fox News coverage of the results “trying to give himself an insurrection.” “Word from inside the White House is he’s already run out of dipping sauce containers to throw at the television set,” Kimmel said. “Man, oh man, would I hate to be the DoorDash driver who delivers Trump his Papa John’s tonight?”

Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Donald Trump After Democratic Blue Wave Midterm Victory — Photo: HuffPost

A “Blue Tsunami,” Not Just a Wave

Kimmel declared, “And not just a blue wave, a blue tsunami.” He cited an election model from Harvard that put the chances of Republicans keeping the House at the equivalent of rolling a 20 on a 20-sided die — “They could have just said five percent, but somebody at Harvard really wanted to let us know they play Dungeons & Dragons.” As the episode aired, it became clear Democrats would take the House and go on to take the Senate as well. “The blue wave has made landfall and now the red wedding begins,” Kimmel said. “The bad news is I guess we’re not getting that $5,000.” He closed the segment by declaring, “Donald Trump is officially a lame duck and an orange chicken at the same time.”

The Daily Beast noted the scale of the defeat, reporting that the Democratic performance appeared to be even bigger than the 2018 midterms and one of the party’s best midterm showings since the post-Watergate midterms in 1974. Kimmel celebrated specific wins, including Georgia Senate candidate Jon Ossoff, Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Texas Senate candidate James Talarico — whom Kimmel noted “could become the first Democrat elected to the Senate in Texas since 1988.” “That’s the good news,” he said. “The bad news is Talarico might have to carpool with Ted Cruz starting in January.”

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Why the GOP Got Trounced

To explain the margin, Kimmel laid out two lists on screen. On one side, he read the priorities American voters actually held — corruption, inflation, housing, climate change, healthcare and democracy. On the other, the priorities Trump and his inner circle appeared to hold: testosterone, windmills, ballrooms, a Black actor playing Helen of Troy and Canada. “So, in case the president is wondering why things didn’t go his way tonight, refer to the list,” Kimmel said. He added that Trump’s approval rating was terrible — “Just like every woman he’s ever slept with, voters are unsatisfied with the job he is doing” — and that his priorities “have no relation to what Americans are worried about.”

Kimmel also poked at Trump’s morning boast, played in a clip, of a 99 percent approval rating in Israel and his suggestion that he could move there and become prime minister. “That might be the best idea he’s ever had,” Kimmel said, according to Rolling Stone. “I would gladly pay for an El Al flight. Make Israel great again. You could sell a whole new line of hats.”

From Election Doubts to Election Night

The monologue landed against a backdrop Kimmel had been setting for weeks. In a pre-election episode covered by The Guardian, he had mocked Trump’s conditional pledge to accept results — “I will — if they’re honest elections” — translating it as: “If his side wins, the elections were honest. If they lose, they were not.” Kimmel had also noted the irony of Republicans accusing Democrats of cheating while their leader offered everyone $5,000 to vote Republican, and he urged viewers to vote given that Trump’s Justice Department planned to deploy thousands of employees to “observe” poll workers as they counted votes. That skepticism about the counting process made Tuesday night’s landslide — and Kimmel’s glee at it — all the sharper.

Kimmel also used the night to recap where key races stood at taping and to pay tribute to outgoing House Speaker Mike Johnson with a compilation of some of his funniest moments, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Trump in the deep end as 'blue tsunami' sweeps Congress • FRANCE 24 English

What It Means for Late Night

For viewers, the practical takeaway is simple: with Colbert off the air and the other hosts taped ahead of the returns, Kimmel’s decision to tape late gave ABC the only live-feeling election-night monologue in late night. The 2026 midterms may be over, but the feud between Kimmel and Trump, now freshly renewed with a “blue tsunami” to gloat over, shows no sign of ending.

Disclaimer: The cultural analyses and financial data presented in this article are based on available public records and industry metrics at the time of publication.