Jimmy Fallon Addresses Donald Trump Feud on 'Tonight Show': "Why Are You Tweeting at Me?"
Jimmy Fallon is talking President Donald Trump once again during the Tonight Show's Monday monologue after Trump called out the late-night host for “whimpering” about tussling his hair on his appearance during his presidential campaign.
"Before we begin, I just wanna give a shout out to our show’s number one fan – the President of the United States," the late-night host was quick to quip about the president.
Trump on Sunday attacked the late-night host over the Tonight Show host's recent comments, during a Hollywood Reporter "Awards Chatter" podcast episode, in which Fallon became choked up talking about the grief he got after tussling Trump's hair on his show. During the taping of Trump’s appearance, Fallon asked for and was granted permission to "mess up" Trump's hair, which has been the source of mockery and curiosity over the years.
Fallon was instantly attacked over the move for attempting to “humanize” Trump to the public.
Trump wrote on Twitter: ".@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!"
"As you may have heard, last night, the President of the United States went after me on Twitter. So Melania, if you're watching, I don't think your anti-bullying campaign is working," Fallon said.
Continuing, Fallon called out Trump for failing to acknowledge any other "important things." "When I saw that Trump insulted me on Twitter, I was gonna tweet back immediately, but I thought, “I have more important things to do.” Then I thought, 'Wait – shouldn’t HE have more important things to do? He’s the president! What are you doing? Why are you tweeting at me?"
Trump also addressed Fallon's comments at a rally in Columbia, S.C. Monday. "He was so disappointed to find out [my hair] was real. He couldn't believe it," Trump said. "Well that's one of the great things I got. So Jimmy Fallon apologized. He apologized for humanizing me. Can you believe it? Poor guy, because now he's going to lose all of us."
In a subtle response, Fallon tweeted Sunday that he would be “making a donation to RAICES in his name” in honor of Trump’s tweet.
"That’s real. It’s crazy," Fallon said of Trump's tweet directed at the late-night host. "The president went after me on Twitter. It's pretty much the only thing I have in common with NFL players."
Fallon added: "Well, in response, I made a donation in Trump’s name to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES. When Trump heard, he was like, 'I love RAICES – they’re my favorite peanut butter cup.”
Fallon told THR's Scott Feinberg during the June 19, 2018, podcast that he didn't mean to "normalize" Trump. "I did not do it to 'normalize' him or to say I believe in his political beliefs or any of that stuff," Fallon said, also revealing that the criticism that he faced "just got bigger and out of control.”
Fallon referred to the backlash as a “down time” for himself and the Tonight Show crew. “There's 300 people that work here, and so when people are talking that bad about you and ganging up on you, in a really gang-mentality..." Choking up, he added: "You go, 'Alright, we get it. I heard you. You made me feel bad. So now what? Are you happy? I'm depressed. Do you want to push me more? What do you want me to do? You want me to kill myself? What would make you happy? Get over it.'"
Fallon further expressed remorse by reiterating that he didn't want to "make anyone angry." "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."
Listen to the full podcast here.
