Late-night hosts have reacted with horror to the killing of director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, as well as to Donald Trump's response. Jimmy Kimmel said the murder, along with other violent incidents over the weekend, made him wonder if things would ever feel good again.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed the couple had died from "Trump Derangement Syndrome". Kimmel described the comments as "hateful and vile", adding: "What we need in a time like this, besides common sense when it comes to guns and mental health care, is compassion and leadership. We did not get that from our president."
Trump later doubled down at the White House, calling Reiner "deranged". Kimmel responded: "That corroded brain is in charge of our lives." He also said Reiner would have wanted the late-night hosts to keep highlighting the "loathsome atrocities" coming from the president's mouth.
Stephen Colbert chose instead to focus on Trump's rambling Christmas story about snakebites in Peru. The president claimed 28,000 people die each year from a certain viper. Colbert fact-checked this, noting that between 2000 and 2015, only 10 people died from snake bites in Peru.
Seth Meyers also joked about the snake story, saying he would now be wary of tinsel. He additionally noted Trump's advice to mothers not to buy too many dolls for their daughters because tariffs had raised prices: "You don't need 37 dolls."
