Jimmy Kimmel Midterm Tsunami: His Take on Democrats’ Wins
Jimmy Kimmel reacted on his ABC late-night show as Democrats won key House and Senate races, calling the results a “blue tsunami.” He also mocked Donald Trump’s response to the election and discussed the administration’s priorities, election monitors and the political significance of the results.
Jimmy Kimmel called the election a “blue tsunami” on his ABC late-night show as Democrats won key House and Senate races, then turned his jokes toward Donald Trump and what the results could mean for him.
The host followed the results as they came in, celebrating Democratic victories in battleground states. The Guardian’s account said Democrats took control of Congress, while Kimmel treated the outcome as a sign of the country’s political mood.
He began with an election model from Harvard, joking that its odds for Republicans keeping the House were as slim as rolling a 20 on a 20-sided die. “They could have said 5%,” Kimmel said, adding that someone at Harvard seemed keen to show they played Dungeons & Dragons.
Why did Jimmy Kimmel call it a “blue tsunami”?
Kimmel used the phrase to describe Democratic victories in the House and Senate, including several high-profile races. He said the results followed predictions of a blue wave from Nate Silver, Nate Cohn and Nate Dogg.
Among the wins he highlighted, Jon Ossoff was re-elected to his Georgia Senate seat. Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of a state, while James Talarico won the Senate race in Texas, ending a 38-year drought for Democrats there.
Kimmel celebrated the wins, then pointed to the political realities ahead. He joked that Talarico might have to carpool with Ted Cruz starting in January and imagined Trump receiving a late-night pizza delivery.
Kimmel turns to Trump’s response and priorities
Kimmel also poked fun at reports that Trump was angry as the results arrived. “Word from inside the White House is he’s already run out of dipping sauce containers to throw at the television set,” he joked.
The host linked the election outcome to public concerns he said included corruption, inflation, climate change, war, wealth disparity, healthcare, housing, measles and democracy. He contrasted those issues with topics he said the MAGA movement focused on, including transgender people, windmills, immigration and Canada.
That contrast gave the monologue a broader political edge: Kimmel framed the election as more than a tally of seats, arguing that voters were weighing everyday concerns against the subjects dominating political debate. For viewers, his remarks offered a comic reading of the results while pointing to the issues he believed shaped the public mood.
He also criticized the deployment of 1,000 Department of Justice election monitors to polling sites around the country. The monitors were mainly stationed at places that had voted blue in 2024, and Markwayne Mullin said the move was intended to ensure that “no illegals voted”. Kimmel mocked the explanation and the monitors’ role.
Earlier, Trump had called Fox News and claimed a 99% approval rating in Israel, suggesting he could move there and become prime minister if the United States ever “got tired” of him. Kimmel replied that the idea might be Trump’s best one yet, then contrasted that claim with what he called the president’s poor approval rating at home.
His closing assessment was blunt: “As of tonight, Donald Trump is officially a lame duck and an orange chicken at the same time.”
