Late-night TV once again doubled as a political launchpad Thursday night as Rep. Eric Swalwell announced his California gubernatorial bid on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Swalwell, one of Donald Trump’s most outspoken critics in the U.S. House of Representatives, used the interview to blast the president, who again called for Kimmel’s firing late Wednesday night. Swalwell told Kimmel, “What the American people are saying right now is they want Donald Trump out of our homes, out of our streets, out of our lives, and out of this studio.”
Pivoting to California, Swalwell argued that the state needs a “fighter and a protector,” referencing his time in local government, as a prosecutor and in Congress as experience he plans to “bring home.”
“I came here tonight to tell you and your audience that I’m running to be the next governor of California,” Swalwell said to a standing ovation.
Kimmel answered with a trademark late-night note, teasing the congressman about his beard and suggesting he commit to either a clean shave or “a full Dave Letterman.”
Swalwell, who hopes to succeed the state’s term-limited sitting governor, Gavin Newsom, isn’t the first California gubernatorial hopeful to launch a campaign on late-night television. Arnold Schwarzenegger memorably announced his successful 2003 run on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. And Swalwell himself previously rolled out a national campaign on late night, announcing his 2020 presidential bid during a taping of CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Swalwell told Kimmel he “wouldn’t do it anywhere else,” a nod to the fact that Kimmel is the only nightly late-night show produced in California—and a reminder of how tightly politics and late-night TV continue to intermingle.
