News
The latest divide at the White House between President Donald Trump and first lady Melania has shocked some Americans, but mostly it seems to be playing out as laughs on late night television. Melania and her husband are not on the same page when it comes to LeBron James, and that had late night stars cracking jokes into the early morning hours on Monday. Don't miss this late night comedy roundup of Melania and LeBron jokes.
To catch you up to speed, President Trump tweeted some less than nice remarks about James after catching his CNN interview with Don Lemon on Friday, Aug. 3, in which James told Lemon that he wouldn't sit down to talk to Trump (although he'd be happy to with former President Barack Obama).
Trump was none too pleased and tweeted, "Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!" The "Mike" reference is thought to be Trump's thoughts on who's the best NBA player of all time, James or Michael Jordan.
This in itself was news until Melania Trump's spokesperson Stephanie Grisham put out a statement seemingly distancing the first lady from the president:
It looks like LeBron James is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation and just as she always has, the first lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today.
Grisham also said that the first lady would be open to visiting the public elementary school for at-risk kids that James funded in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
There's no word on how the president is taking the statement, but late night comedy writers sure loved it.
1
James Corden On 'The Late Late Show'
Corden set up his Melania Trump-LeBron James joke telling what had transpired on Twitter and in the first lady's statement. "Now that's something you don't see on the Sports Center highlights very often, the first lady dunking on the president," Corden joked.
“Melania and LeBron, they have a lot in common,” Corden continued. “They both know how to handle a big orange ball of air.”
2
Trevor Noah On 'The Daily Show'
Noah started his rip on Donald Trump with jokes about his vacation, saying, "He has a lot of time on his thumbs." Even if, "sadly, we don't get a vacation from him." He went over the James comment and the president's response, focusing in on Trump's willingness to insult the intelligence of African-American opponents.
Then he moved to Melania Trump's statement. "What was surprising is who came to LeBron's defense," Noah said. He then listed the times she's come out against her husband: kids at the border in cages, watching CNN on Air Force One, and her photos taken with vegetables.
“English may not be her first language, but she clearly is fluent in throwing shade," Noah joked.
3
Seth Meyers On 'Late Night'
Meyers joked about James and the first lady in the same segment — if not exactly at the same moment. He talked about the tweet and then said, "Remember, Trump says he never watches CNN while simultaneously complaining about what he sees on CNN."
"Trump isn’t an at-risk youth but LeBron just took him to school," he continued.
Melania Trump came up in a segment Meyers showed from a Trump rally in Ohio. "We won the women," Donald Trump kept shouting at the rally, saying that the first lady told him, "The women really like you."
"That’s right, Trump says he won the women — and he only had to pay off some of them,” Meyers said.
Meyers doubted that Melania Trump is even talking to her husband. "Melania’s body might be there but her mind is on Amazon Prime shopping for LeBron jerseys," Meyers said.
4
Jimmy Fallon On 'The Tonight Show'
Fallon focused on the claim by Donald Trump that Lemon is the dumbest man on television and then joked, "Trump was like, 'There's only room for one dumb-dumb on TV, and that was me, The Apprentice, 2004 to 2015."
The laughs may continue well into the week, or even year, as great attention has been paid to whenever the first lady differs in opinion from her husband. You can bet there are a few more jokes coming your way.
