Kimmel also weighed in on Caroline Kennedy’s recent letter and video warning against the confirmation of her cousin , denouncing him as “a predator” and lacking “any relevant government, financial, management, or medical experience.” The late-night host honed in on her claims that Kennedy Jr. “enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in a blender to feed to his hawks,” with Kimmel noting that the anecdote was another addition to “the long list of crazy stories about this crazy person.”
Kimmel didn’t hold back in his assessment of President Donald Trump’s nominee, calling Kennedy Jr. “a man who does not believe in medical science” over his past views on topics like vaccines and abortion, noting that they have “conveniently evolved since pledging allegiance to the cantaloupe in chief.”
It was “another weird day in Washington” according to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who kicked off his show on Wednesday by recapping the first confirmation hearing of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Health and Human Services.
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“Well, that explains why he lost the job at Jamba Juice, I guess,” Kimmel joked, adding that “not one of the 27 senators on the finance committee” asked Kennedy Jr. about his cousin’s claims. “We’ve reached the point where these cabinet picks are so nutty the idea that one of them was making Stuart Little smoothies doesn’t even come up.”
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Kimmel later remarked that it’s possible that “we could have a Health and Human Services secretary who puts Easter animals in a blender paired up with a head of Homeland Security who shoots puppies and goats,” referencing Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem’s past claims that she once shot and killed a puppy. “This is quite a farm old McDonald has put together for us,” Kimmel said.
Over on “The Late Show,” host Stephen Colbert highlighted Caroline Kennedy’s recent statement, as well, while expressing his love for “an old-fashioned Kennedy fight.”
“Usually these things get worked out in Nantucket with croquet mallets until it’s time for oysters, gin, and the NDAs,” Colbert joked.
Colbert also brought up the laundry list of weird incidents involving Kennedy Jr. and animals, such as his story about leaving a dead bear in Central Park; the allegations that he once sawed off a dead whale’s head and tied it to the roof of his family’s car; and lest we forget, his claims about doctors finding a dead worm in his brain.
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“Our possible next secretary of Health and Human Services could be anti-vax, roadkill chef, and CPR dummy that no one wants to practice mouth-to-mouth with, RFK Jr.,” Colbert said. “For a guy who’s supposed to know how to stay healthy, he has a long history with dead animals.”
“The Daily Show” co-host Michael Kosta couldn’t resist jabbing Kennedy Jr. over his alleged stories with animals, too, asking, “Are there no stories where Kennedy interacts with an animal like a normal person?”
“Honestly, I’m going to tell RFK Jr. the same thing I tell myself every morning before I host ‘The Daily Show’: you are not qualified for this job,” Kosta joked.
“The Daily Show” co-host also called Wednesday’s proceedings “the world’s weirdest episode of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’” while zooming in on footage of Kennedy Jr.’s wife, actress Cheryl Hines, who sat behind her husband during the confirmation hearing. Kimmel took the “Curb” comparisons even further, playing the show’s iconic theme song over a montage clip of Hines sitting “quietly behind her husband as he attempted to rewrite the story of his life,” with Kennedy Jr. awkwardly answering questions from Sen. Michael Bennet, who grilled the nominee over his controversial views.
Meanwhile, on “The Tonight Show,” host Jimmy Fallon only briefly touched upon Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing during his opening monologue.
“Today was RFK Jr.’s first confirmation hearing, and he spent hours being grilled by senators,” Fallon said. “Yup, RFK Jr. was tested and he came back positive for everything.”
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Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.
