Donald Trump brands Jimmy Fallon a flop: ‘Where is Johnny Carson?’

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Donald Trump wants to fire a whole bunch of late-night hosts — and bring back a long-dead TV personality to the screen.

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Speaking at a campaign rally this week in Pennsylvania, the Republican presidential nominee lashed out at hosts Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel and declared the shows they front are “all dying.”

“These three guys are so bad,” Trump, 78, said. “All three of ’em.”

The former president then dumped on Fallon, showing the crowd a clip from an episode in which Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was speaking about fracking. “Mamala Kamala just don’t give a frack,” Fallon said.

“He’s not very funny,” Trump assessed.

Fallon also drew Trump’s ire for apologizing to his audience after inviting the businessman to appear on The Tonight Show back in 2016.

“I go on his show, and he goes, ‘Is that your real hair?’ And I say, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Do you mind if I mess it up?’” Trump recounted, adding that he told Fallon he’d prefer if he didn’t. “So he grabs it, he starts going crazy, right? And everybody laughed; it was a big thing. It was all over the place and he got great ratings. Six months later, he went out — because he was under pressure — to apologize because he humanized Donald Trump. Do you remember? … How weak and pathetic is a guy like that?”

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When the former host of The Apprentice popped in for a sit-down with Fallon eight years ago, the two had a lighthearted conversation with Fallon asking Trump how his co-workers and peers would describe him.

“As somebody who never gives up. We never give up. We can never give up. Never,” the then-Republican presidential nominee replied.

When Fallon wondered how he would excel at the job of president, Trump was quick with an answer. “Because I love people and I want to do right for people,” he said. 

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During the taping, Fallon also asked for permission to “mess up” Trump’s hair and shared his impersonation of the businessman, which got a thumbs up.

But Fallon later apologized for his jovial interview with Trump. “I made a mistake,” Fallon told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to make anyone angry — I never do and I never will. It’s all in the fun of the show. I made a mistake. I’m sorry if I made anyone mad. And, looking back, I would do it differently.”

Trump later said Fallon was “disappointed to find out (my hair) was real. He couldn’t believe it.”

He also blasted Fallon on Twitter in 2018, writing: “.@jimmyfallon is now whimpering to all that he did the famous ‘hair show’ with me (where he seriously messed up my hair), & that he would have now done it differently because it is said to have ‘humanized’ me-he is taking heat. He called & said ‘monster ratings.’ Be a man Jimmy!”

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But Trump’s behaviour during his presidency and as he seeks re-election this November has been fodder for late-night, with Fallon, Colbert, Kimmel and Seth Meyers all poking fun at his hush-money case earlier this year and his recent debate performance against Harris.

“This morning, Trump said the debate was rigged and that ABC should be shut down for fact-checking him, but that he still thought he did great. Then ABC fact-checked him again and said, ‘You did not,’” Fallon quipped the night after Trump and Harris first squared off. 

With Fallon’s show now cut to four days a week, Trump added at his rally in Pennsylvania that “those three guys are being blown away by (Fox News’ Greg) Gutfeld.”

“When I first ran in 2015 or was thinking about running I went on (Fallon’s) show, The Tonight Show, which is dying. They’re all dying. Where is Johnny Carson? Bring back Johnny. It made you appreciate the greatness of Johnny Carson. These three guys are so bad,” he said.

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As Trump’s line about Carson — who died in 2005 — went viral, The View co-host Joy Behar poked fun at the moment. “I mean maybe we could have a seance for him,” she said. 

Behar went on to add that Trump targeting comedians was a red flag. “Once you start going after the comedians, you really have to pay attention. Because the comedians are the philosophers of the time, in a certain way, you know?” she said.

On X, one person posted a clip of Trump’s Carson request and joked: “Gen Z doesn’t know what Grandpa Trump is talking about.”

“Sad to see but grandpa is confused again,” another critic swiped. “Johnny Carson died nearly 20 years ago.”

But Trump acknowledged in Pennsylvania this week that he holds grudges and doesn’t forget when people make fun of him.

“I don’t like anybody that doesn’t like me,” Trump added during his rally. “I’ll be honest, when they don’t like me, I don’t like them. OK? Sounds childish… That’s the way it is. Call it a personality defect.”

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