But one of those selections left him absolutely baffled: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for secretary of state.
Kimmel played a supercut video of all the insults Trump hurled at Rubio during the 2016 Republican primary, when the two were campaign rivals, including dismissing the senator as “Liddle Marco,” a “choke artist,” and a “total lightweight” with a “little mouth” who sweats profusely.
“He did everything but give him a swirly,” Kimmel cracked.
Rubio has since become a staunch Trump defender, and the president-elect has rewarded him for that fealty with a plum administration post.
That led Kimmel to introduce a surprise guest… sort of.
“While it’s disappointing that a tough Trump critic like Marco Rubio would humiliate himself for a position of power, to his credit he did agree to talk to us,” Kimmel said.
He brought Rubio on the screen as if he were a remote guest, then conducted an interview in which Rubio repeatedly slammed Trump as a “con artist” who is “wholly unprepared” for the presidency.
In reality, it was old footage of Rubio from the 2016 campaign, some of which has gone viral all over again after the senator was named Trump’s pick for secretary of state.
Check it out in the Tuesday night monologue: