Late-night talk show hosts collectively lamented the closeness of the 2020 presidential election, expressing disappointment with the number of voters who supported Republicans across the country.
“I’m very happy and relieved that it looks like we’re finally sending this monster back to Mar-a-Lago,” ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel said. “But I’m also shocked that it was this close.”
Kimmel added: “It is unimaginable to me that close to half of American voters saw what this man has done to this country over the last four years.”
Kimmel then read a list of critiques of President Trump, including the debunked claim that the president referred to neo-Nazis as “very fine people,” before saying he “overestimated the American people.”
NBC’s Jimmy Fallon accused Trump supporters of being complacent over coronavirus cases in the United States.
“Apparently, a lot of voters looked at 90,000 COVID cases a day and said, ‘Sure, I can do four more years of this,’” Fallon said.
James Corden, CBS’s late-night host, expressed disbelief that a “crushing blue wave” didn’t decisively elect Democrats across the country.
“Obviously, the election was much closer than anyone had predicted,” Corden said. “Despite a large turnout from voters, there was no crashing blue wave. I mean, how does this happen? Even after the Democrats got the cast of Parks and Rec to reunite over Zoom. Think about it: the entire cast. I thought that would be the turning point, but no. I don’t know how that didn’t speak to Republican voters.”
“There’s never been a more important time to mention that we tape this show at 5 p.m.,” NBC’s Seth Meyers told his audience. “But as of this taping, the winner of the presidential election has not been determined, and votes are still being counted in several key states. Of course, you’re watching this at 12:35 a.m. tonight, or maybe sometime Thursday afternoon. So if Trump won, will you please get in a time machine and come back to find and kill me.”
As of Thursday morning, an official winner of the presidential race between Trump and former vice president Joe Biden had not been called, with votes still being counted in the key swing states of Pennsylvania and Georgia as well as in Nevada and Arizona.
