Country music singer Jelly Roll caught viewers off guard on Monday night by delivering a monologue filled with political humour, famously celebrating his recent 300-pound weight loss by comparing it directly to Donald Trump.
Filling in for Jimmy Kimmel for the second consecutive summer, the Grammy-nominated artist used his opening segment to poke fun at the president’s reported weight fluctuations. Noting recent medical reports indicating Trump had gained 14 pounds, Jelly Roll contrasted the news with his dramatic health journey.
Racing event and flag-waving blunders
Beyond physical jabs, the singer targeted Trump’s participation at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington over the weekend. Referencing footage of the president awkwardly waving the starting flag, Jelly Roll expressed sheer disbelief.
«The cars drove through the streets of D.C., and there’s Donald Trump, who apparently has never held a flag before,» he said. «How do you mess up waving a flag?»
He continued by poking fun at Trump’s enjoyment of the IndyCar event, suggesting it was a change of pace because «normally he only likes his own race.»
The musician also mocked the president’s track lap in his motorcade, which commentators called a «lap of honour.» Jelly Roll quipped that the phrase sounded like a loyalty programme at a strip club, joking it would offer members «5% cash back in the champagne room.»
Jelly Roll is closing out the final week of guest hosting on the ABC late-night programme. Kimmel has spent the past two months on his annual summer hiatus, temporarily handing the desk to a rotating cast of celebrities that included Rosie O’Donnell, Anthony Anderson and Tiffany Haddish. O’Donnell similarly used her hosting stint last week to reignite her decades-long public feud with Trump.
