UNCONVINCING

Kimmel Mocks House Speaker Mike Johnson’s ‘Pretend’ Tantrum Over Shutdown

Kimmel wants “Mad Mike” to drop the act.

Jimmy Kimmel called BS on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s speech Thursday, in which the GOP house leader angrily blamed Democrats for the government shutdown that’s now reached its third week.

Kimmel showed his viewers the clip of Johnson declaring, “I get very upset about this... We [must] stop holding the American people hostage for these ridiculous political games.”

Johnson finished his speech with the words, “I don’t like being Mad Mike. I want to be Happy Mike. I want to be the happy warrior, but I am so upset about this.”

Kimmel replied, “Somebody didn’t have his Go-Gurt this morning.”

Kimmel mocked further, “He wants to be Happy Mike! He wants to be the happy warrior, but he can’t because of us.”

The late-night host referred to Johnson as “Squeaker of the House,” and had told viewers before playing the clip, “Watch how hard he acts here. He gets all mad trying to pretend this has anything to do with anything other than the Epstein files.”

UNNECESSARY DELAY

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Kimmel has repeatedly criticized Republicans for going along with the Trump administration’s apparent heel-turn on Jeffrey Epstein.

In July 2025, Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi shocked even Trump’s own supporters by saying there was no Epstein client list to release, even though Trump had spent most of the preceding year hyping the list up.

Since then, Kimmel has asserted that Trump is trying to distract voters from thinking about the Epstein files. Kimmel’s response to Trump’s alleged distraction attempts is to remind viewers of the scandal on a near-nightly basis.

Kimmel also showed a video of Trump claiming on Thursday that he’s the only president to end a war, calling former president Joe Biden “stupid” for not ending any wars himself. Biden ended the war in Afghanistan in 2021.

Kimmel jokingly responded, “Nobody has ever ended a war other than [Trump]. All the other wars ended mysteriously by themselves.”

Kimmel added, “That, kids, is why it’s so important to never learn anything. It damages your self-esteem.”

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