Kimmel and Kosta Target Trump's Midterm Convention

Late-night television hosts have discussed the second day of Donald Trump’s poorly attended "midterm convention" in Dallas, Texas. Trump demanded this special event, which has never been done before by the Republican National Committee. Because the party usually does whatever he wants, they agreed to hold it.

However, the arena was far from full, leaving many empty seats. Trump spent the previous night posting on Truth Social to dispute any evidence of a small crowd. During his speech, he repeatedly told the audience that the place was packed and that nobody had left. He even asked the crowd not to go to the bathroom so reporters could not photograph empty seats.

Jimmy Kimmel mocked the event on his show, playing a clip of the half-empty arena. He joked, "That arena was as empty as a Waymo." Kimmel pointed out the irony of Trump bragging about his crowd size to empty chairs.

Later in his long speech, Trump made a surprising promise. He promised to send five thousand dollars to every adult US citizen if the Republicans win the House and Senate in November. Kimmel spent time trying to decide if this offer was a bribe or a lie. He concluded that it was both, calling it a "libe". Kimmel noted that this plan would add one point three trillion dollars to the federal deficit, which taxpayers would eventually have to pay back.

On The Daily Show, Michael Kosta also laughed at the five thousand dollar offer, calling it a bribe. He pointed out that the United States already has a negative forty trillion dollar balance, so the country should not hand out dividends. Even Fox and Friends host Brian Kilmeade seemed confused by the plan, though he called it "kinda fun."