Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has made a playful yet incisive comment about the relationship between former President Donald Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence. Kimmel’s remark came in response to the recent court filing by special counsel Jack Smith, which sheds light on the dynamics between Trump and Pence during the aftermath of the 2020 US presidential election.
The 165-page document, unsealed by a federal judge in Washington DC, alleges that Trump misled the American public, election officials, and even Pence himself in a bid to overturn the election results. The filing presents a detailed account of how Trump exerted pressure on Pence to reject the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, despite lacking evidence of widespread voter fraud.
During a segment on his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel likened Pence to a character from the Netflix series “Baby Reindeer,” where an obsession turns into stalking. The host humorously recounted an exchange from the court filing where Pence expressed his unwillingness to alter the election outcome, prompting Trump to persist in his demands.
Kimmel highlighted a specific incident on Christmas Day 2020, when Pence rebuffed Trump’s attempts to influence the election certification process. Despite Pence’s repeated assertions that no fraud had occurred, Trump continued to press him, culminating in the infamous rally on January 6, 2021, where Trump urged his supporters to challenge the election results.
The court document also revealed Trump’s disparaging remarks towards Pence after the Capitol riot, where some rioters chanted threats against the vice president. Kimmel seized on these details to underscore the strained relationship between Trump and Pence, characterising Pence as Trump’s metaphorical “Baby Reindeer” – a submissive figure subjected to Trump’s coercive tactics.
Through his witty commentary, Kimmel drew attention to the troubling revelations in Smith’s filing, questioning Trump’s motives and highlighting the divisive tactics employed by the former president. The humorous yet critical analysis provided by Kimmel serves to illuminate the complexities of the power dynamics within the Trump administration, offering a fresh perspective on the turbulent events surrounding the 2020 election aftermath.