The very public row between Steve Bannon and Donald Trump became choice fodder for late-night hosts on Wednesday (Jan. 3), who poked fun at Bannon’s quotes in a new book excerpt and the official statement from Trump that followed.
On Wednesday The Guardian released an excerpt from Michael Wolff’s upcoming Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House that quoted Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, saying that a 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”
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Following the excerpt’s publication, Trump sent a statement out via press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday that downplayed Bannon’s role and influence inside the White House and alleged that Bannon had never represented Trump’s “base,” but only “himself” when he worked for Trump’s campaign and White House.
Tonight at 11/10c: Donald Trump vs. Steve Bannon beef is ——. Who you got? pic.twitter.com/0iK5OZQ23j
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 4, 2018
On The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, host Trevor Noah highlighted choice zingers in the Trump statement, which he called “pure fire.”
Commenting on a line in which Trump said that the only thing Bannon “does well” is leaking White House information to make himself look important, Noah countered, “I know you’re mad, President Trump, but that’s not true. Steve Bannon does a lot of things well. He can grow stubble while shaving, he can projectile vomit on command and he can somehow look like your grandfather and your grandmother at the same time. That’s a skill.”
Noah also tackled Trump’s statement that now that Bannon is “on his own,” he’s realizing that “winning isn’t as easy as I make it look.”
“Donald Trump is so amazing, man,” Noah joked. “In the middle of completely ripping his former chief strategist, he takes a moment to remind us of how dope he is. It’s like someone bitch-slapping you and dabbing in the same motion,” he said, before mimicking what that would look like.
On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel joked that Steve Bannon’s alleged slam of Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting was belated. “He is quoted in a new book — accusing Jared Kushner, Trump’s son in law, of money laundering, accusing Donald Trump Jr of treason. Which… now you tell us? Thanks a lot,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel concluded: “This administration unlike anything ever. There are three new scandals every day. The wheels just keep coming off, and somehow – the bus keeps rolling right along! I don’t know how many wheels there are on this bus? “
Late-night host Jordan Klepper, meanwhile, joked that the Trump-Bannon feud had the air of a divorce.
“All relationships go through rough patches. Hell, both of these men are made of rough patches,” Klepper said. He made a lighthearted appeal to bring them back together: “One of you is a millionaire who loves the forgotten man. One is a billionaire who loves the forgotten man. You’re both in touch with regular Americans. You’re the same.”
Klepper continued, playing the role of a child caught in a divorce: “It it something I something I did, was it because of that time I spent a night on 4chan when I supposed to go to bed? … I don’t want to split my time, wear my MAGA hat on weekdays and my two collared shirts every other weekend.”
Trump and Bannon’s apparent rough patch is tearing Jordan up inside. Watch #TheOpposition tonight at 11:30/10:30c on Comedy Central. pic.twitter.com/ccMKsMwvRu
— The Opposition (@TheOpposition) January 4, 2018
This article originally appeared on THR.com.