Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel conducted an unusually tense interview with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on his show Wednesday night, leaving little to laugh about.
“We know Donald Trump as a businessman, author, and reality show star, but our children will know him as the president who blew up the moon for being a loser,” he quipped during his opening monologue.
When Trump took the stage, the comedian quickly started asking Trump serious questions, including pressing the billionaire on his proposal to bar Muslims from entering the United States.
“Did anyone try to talk you out of saying we should temporarily ban Muslims?” Kimmel questioned.
“I have a lot of friends who are Muslims, and some of them, not all of them, many of them called me and said, ‘You know Donald you’re right, we have a problem,'” Trump responded.
“Those may have been crank calls,” Kimmel joked. “Did you check their Caller ID?”
Kimmel then asked the leading GOP candidate about illegal immigration, a hot-button issue central to Trump’s campaign.
“Guillermo came here illegally,” Kimmel said, referring to one of his employees. “Thank God he went through the process, I mean first of all he’s adorable, but don’t we want people who want to be here so badly that they will risk everything to be in America?”
“Well, it is true, and I have thousands of Hispanics who have worked for me over the years,” Trump said in what’s come to be his usual line of defense. “They’re unbelievable people. What I’m saying is they have to come in through a legal process.”
“We talk about the wall, we’re going to have a big, beautiful door [in the wall], we want people to come in legally,” he added.
Towards the end of Trump’s appearance on the program, which had previously been scheduled for October before Trump abruptly cancelled, he admitted to being a “little bit divisive” in the Republican Party.
“Ultimately, I would like to come together and get this thing done,” said Trump, who’s second in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings.
