"Donald Trump was the only guy who went to see 'Backdraft' and rooted for the backdraft," Jimmy Kimmel jokes.
Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert had a more presidential response to the devastating wildfires in California on Monday night than President Donald Trump.
The late-night comedians offered their condolences to families affected by the deadliest blaze in the state's history, gave a shoutout to the brave firefighters risking their lives to contain it, and then tore into Trump for doing none of that in his first public statement on the matter.
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View StoryInstead, as you probably have seen by now, Trump blamed "poor" forest management -- or as Kimmel put it, "The president weighed in with this touching message of support."
There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!
@realDonaldTrump
With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart!
@realDonaldTrump
According to The New York Times, 42 people have been declared dead, so far, and over 7,100 structures have been destroyed as three separate fires continue to burn hundreds of thousands acres. The Woolsey Fire -- which decimated Malibu, burning about 435 structures west of Los Angeles -- grew to over 150 square miles as of Tuesday morning, and containment is at just 35 percent.
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View StoryThe fire hits close to home for stars of TV, film and music. Even if their home was spared, every star living in Los Angeles probably has friends that were affected. One of Kimmel's executive producers had to flee her home at 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, and found shelter at the late-night comedian's house.
"Daily Show" host Trevor Noah observed, "There's a giant emergency in California, and the president is making things worse."
See how the three comics burned Trump for his classless commentary on the fires.
'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'
Kimmel's studio audience loudly booed President Trump's tweet blaming the state for the wildfires.
"Everything about this tweet was wrong. The federal government manages most of the forest land in California, not the state. He's the one who cut the funding. California actually pays more money to the federal government than it gets back. And of course, he does nothing about climate change, which is why these fires happen. But why get tangled up in facts when you can take shots at people who voted for Hillary instead of you. Donald Trump was the only guy who went to see 'Backdraft' and rooted for the backdraft."
In response to Trump's "get smart" tweet, Kimmel joked, "Yeah, alright. You go first, and then we will."
"I understand that California probably isn't the president's favorite state, but he could at least pretend to care about us -- like he does with Donald Jr.," Kimmel concluded.
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View Story'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'
After wishing everyone in California well, especially the firefighters busy fending off the destructive flames, the CBS star tore into Trump's tweet blaming the natural disaster on poor forest management.
"I think that's called blaming the victim. I'd hate to be choking with only Trump there to save me," he said before launching into his signature Trump impression: "'Are you choking? There's no reason for this massive loss of oxygen, except your chewing membership was so poor. Remedy now or no heimlich.'"
He also mocked Trump for telling California to "get smart" about forest management a day after his initial tweet sparked outrage from Hollywood and beyond.
"'So important, gotta be smart,'" Colbert said in his Trump voice. "Their biggest mistake is planting trees made of wood. Rookie mistake. I will replace them with trees made out of beautiful, American steel.'"
He joked Trump is actually the most "flammable president in U.S. history," because of all of the hairspray he's gotta use to keep that thinning presidential hair perfectly fluffed. Colbert delighted in the president of the Pasadena Firefighters Association calling out Trump for being "wrong" and inviting the POTUS to Southern California to "learn the facts and help the victims."
Based on Trump's visit to Puerto Rico after that destructive hurricane last year, Colbert's not so sure it's a good idea for the president to show up in California right now.
"I'm thinking the last thing the first responders need is a visit from the president. 'No sir! Stop throwing paper towels. That's kindling, you're only making it worse.'"
The late-night host piggybacked off of Guns 'N' Roses singer Axl Rose complaining that Trump's federal budget proposal did not help the situation.
Um...actually...it's a lack of federal funding that's at the “root” of the purported forest mismanagement. Only a demented n' truly pathetic individual would twist that around n' use a tragedy to once again misrepresent facts for attempted public/political gain at other's expense
@axlrose
Colbert pointed out to his audience that Trump's budget proposal aims to cut $300 million from U.S. Forest Services wildfire fighting efforts and $50 million from wildfire prevention. In response, he imagined a new PSA from "Smoldery" the Bear, which can you watch at the end of the video above.
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View Story'The Daily Show'
Noah's audience also booed the president's tweet blaming California after Noah set up the story by saying, "There's a giant emergency in California, and the president is making things worse."
"This might sound crazy, but I'm actually with Trump on this one," Noah said The man knows fires. He fired Gary Busey, he fired Meatloaf, I feel like he fires Omarosa every six months. If anyone's a fire expert, it's him," the Comedy Central star joked. "But yes, instead of lending a message of support and comfort, Trump is blaming people while the fire is still happening."
"And on top of that, he's incorrect," Noah continued. "One, most experts say that the state's major fires have nothing to do with forest management. And two, this could have all been avoided if Don Jr. hadn't hunted down Smokey the Bear."