With three days to go until yet another government shutdown deadline, Jimmy Kimmel expressed cautious optimism Tuesday night that it could be averted this time.
That’s because Democrats and Republicans did the “unthinkable” and reached a compromise deal that would keep the government open. “Now it’s up to Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter to decide if the president will sign it,” Kimmel said.
“So while lawmakers were busy hammering this out, to figure this wall nonsense out, the president was in El Paso having a rally featuring an exciting new slogan,” the host added, revealing the giant “Finish the Wall” banner that hung above the president’s head during the event on Monday.
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“Now he wants Finland to pay for the wall!” Kimmel joked. “I don’t know. How do you finish a wall you haven’t even started building yet? It’s like saying ‘finish your dinner’ before you eat lunch.”
During the rally, Trump supporters began to chant “Build the wall!” as they had done countless times during the 2016 campaign and over the past two years, but the president corrected them. “You really mean ‘finish that wall,’” he said, “because we’ve built a lot of it.”
“He went right from ‘build the wall’ to ‘finish the wall.’ This is unbelievable!” Kimmel said, laughing. “You know, about a month ago, I suggested that we just let him tell people the wall is being built, because it’s not like they’re gonna drive over from Alabama to check on the process. But I was joking. It turns out, that’s exactly what he’s doing!”
“That’s how Orwellian this has become,” the host added. “We are one delusional rally away from, ‘Now that we’ve finished the wall, let’s paint the wall!”