Jimmy Kimmel may have had traditional late night to himself on Election Night, but it was all hands on deck Wednesday as late-night hosts made Tuesday’s midterm results the predominant focus of their monologues.
There was certainly no shortage of material. “President Trump couldn’t do it with the reflecting pool, but last night he turned the whole country blue,” Jimmy Fallon cracked, while Kimmel compared the scale of the Republican losses to another recent White House demolition: “America treated Donald Trump like he was the East Wing of the White House.”
Seth Meyers, meanwhile, joked that Democrats had spent so long waiting for a night like this that it was like “Matt Damon trying to grow a f*cking potato on Mars,” before declaring, “Last night it was potatoes for everybody!”
From Donald Trump’s insistence that he wasn’t on the ballot to Elon Musk’s expensive night and Idaho’s newly chosen state gun, here are some of Wednesday night’s best late-night jokes about the 2026 midterm results.
The Blue Wave
“The defeats were so bad, this morning Trump didn’t even want to get out of his tanning bed.”—Jimmy Fallon
“It was a total blue wave caused by an Orange president.”—Jimmy Fallon
“The Republicans lost the House and the Senate. There’s going to be so many Republicans leaving the Capitol it will look like a reverse January 6th.”—Jimmy Fallon
“It was so blue, the Blue Man Group and Bluey snorted the blue meth from Breaking Bad while singing ‘I’m Blue.’”—Michael Kosta
“They won the Senate. They won the House. They won governor’s races. They won Best Animated Picture. They won the rigged claw machine at the arcade.”—Michael Kosta
“Experts say it was the roughest night for a Republican president since Mary Todd Lincoln bought theater tickets.”—Greg Gutfeld
On unexpected Democratic wins in deep-red districts: “There’s probably a bunch of people waking up today who thought they were just running as sacrificial lambs in deep red territory saying, ‘The f*ck? I’ve got to be a congressman now?’”—Seth Meyers
The Trump of It All
On Trump claiming the losses weren’t about him because he wasn’t on the ballot: “You were on the ballot. You’re like dog hair, you’re on everything.”—Jimmy Kimmel
“Wow. We finally found something Trump doesn’t want his name on.”—Seth Meyers
“It’s like having President Shaggy. ‘It wasn’t me.’”—Jimmy Fallon
On a report that Trump was so furious he briefly lost the ability to speak: “Republicans were like, ‘Where was this a month ago?’”—Jimmy Fallon
After Trump compared his approval rating to Abraham Lincoln’s: “That was back when the Gallup poll was conducted on a horse.”—Jimmy Kimmel
On Trump saying he would “accept” the election results: “Trump is still contesting the results of Eric’s paternity test.”—Jimmy Kimmel
On Trump’s lack of allegiance to either political party: “The only party he leads is the slumber party. And he’s the only person in it.”—Jimmy Kimmel
On Trump saying he shouldn’t feel guilty: “Nobody thought you were going to have a complex feeling like guilt. You have the emotional palate of a badger. You only feel two things, hungry and mad.”—Seth Meyers
On whether Trump really expected Republicans to win: “Then I remember he really thought we were going to win a war with Iran in a f*cking day.”—Seth Meyers
On Trump posting a red hat bearing the word “VETO”: “It’s either the word ‘Veto’ or Trump trying to spell the word ‘Vote.’”—Jimmy Fallon
On the investigations Trump could face with Democrats controlling Congress: “There’s a good chance this Thanksgiving Trump dresses up as a turkey and pardons himself.”—Jimmy Fallon
Red-State Surprises
On Democrats flipping Senate seats in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas: “You know it’s a tough night for Republicans when they lose the Waffle House states.”—Jimmy Fallon
On Jon Husted losing his Senate race after Trump’s repeated comments about his backside: “Trump was like, ‘I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.’”—Jimmy Fallon
On James Talarico: “He looks like he waited until he was 21 to try seltzer.”—Seth Meyers
On Ted Cruz becoming one of the few remaining Republicans in statewide Texas office: “The next Texas GOP convention is just going to be Ted in an empty room—wait, sorry. I’m being told that’s a picture from his birthday party.”—Seth Meyers
On Democrats winning in deeply conservative territory: “You remember that town in Deliverance? Last night they elected a gay Black socialist.”—Michael Kosta
On Texas turning blue: “Word is, all gun racks will now be replaced with spice racks.”—Greg Gutfeld
Elon Musk’s $500 Million Night
On Musk spending nearly half a billion dollars backing Republican candidates who overwhelmingly lost: “Half a billion dollars and absolutely nothing to show for it. I mean, that could have been three whole days of child support for him.”—Michael Kosta
“Usually when Elon spends this much money on something this embarrassing, he calls it the Cybertruck.”—Jimmy Kimmel
“Money can’t buy everything, whether that’s elections or friends or a T-shirt that fits.”—Jimmy Kimmel
Idaho Picks a State Gun
On Idaho voters choosing an official state firearm: “Well, it’s nice to see the right to choose is alive and well in Idaho.”—Michael Kosta
“The losing gun went to the bathroom and put a smaller version of itself in its mouth.”—Michael Kosta
“The Winchester Model 1873 narrowly beat out the progressive challenger: Nerf.”—Seth Meyers
The blue wave was so massive it reached Iowa bringing in Sand.
The blue wave was so widespread even candidates not running got elected. In Iowa a Democrat that dropped out due to health reasons won. When they’d rather have a sick man win than a dead one-looking at Mitch McConnell.