President Donald Trump on Monday took down the late-night TV comics who have made him their political-humor target, mocking ABC's Jimmy Kimmel as "terrible," CBS's Stephen Colbert as "a lowlife," and predicting ratings doom for NBC's Jimmy Fallon.
At a rally for GOP Gov. Henry McMaster, Trump lamented the talk-show hosts paled in comparison to the legendary Johnny Carson.
"I mean, honestly, are these people funny?" he asked. "I can laugh at myself. Frankly, if I couldn't, I'd be in big trouble. But there's no talent. They're not like talented people. Johnny Carson was talented."
His first barbs were aimed at Fallon, who says he regrets the way he handled an interview with candidate Trump in which he playfully tussled the real estate mogul's hair.
"He apologized for humanizing me, the poor guy," Trump said. "Because now he's going to lose all of us. Now, he's going to lose us."
He then pivoted to Colbert, without naming him.
"The guy on CBS is — what a low life," Trump said, adding: "I mean, this guy on CBS has no talent."
He also punched hard at Kimmel, relating a pre-campaign appearance in which he suggested the host was a bit of a groveler.
"I'd go to the studio to do a shot, to do a thing," Trump said. "He would stand outside on the sidewalk waiting for me. 'Here he comes. Donald Trump.' He opens my door. I said, 'Does he do this to everybody?' . . . He does it for nobody. . . . Now, I wouldn't do his show. He's terrible."
He did praise, however, veteran film maker David Lynch, reading a report in which proclaimed "Trump could go down as one of the greatest presidents in history."
"There goes his career in Hollywood," Trump said.
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