Late-night comedians tried their hand at live election-night coverage Tuesday during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, poking fun at numerous Republican candidates and election deniers across the nationwide ballots and the desperation of the Democratic Party to wrest control of U.S. Congress.
‘The Late Show’
“The Late Show’s” Stephen Colbert broadcast his CBS show live again from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York to bring his viewers “up-to-the-minute election results and up-to-the-minute election denials.” The CBS host, who often broadcasts live on election night, invited a few special guests too: results analyst “Steve Clucknacki” and “John ‘Chicken a la’ King” — the avian version of MSNBC’s numbers whiz Steve Kornacki and CNN’s John King.
The host prefaced all the election-night weirdness by committing to a “Stranger Things” parody for the broadcast and shared a few early results on the projected winners when polls began closing on the East Coast.
‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
On the West Coast, ABC host Jimmy Kimmel recorded his broadcast in his Hollywood studio with an audience “made up entirely of Herschel Walker’s children,” poking fun at the embattled Republican candidate and former NFL star running for a Georgia U.S. Senate seat against Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Kimmel, who also repeatedly ribbed favorite foe Donald Trump, also invited an Illinois farmer who appeared in a political ad to join the audience after taking a liking to the farmer’s NSFW name. Sidekick Guillermo wore a suit made entirely of “I Voted” stickers and the show ran a “Lie Witness News” package featuring street interviews that tried to get people to endorse completely made-up propositions.
‘The Daily Show’
Comedy Central host Trevor Noah and his team of “Daily Show” correspondents riffed on people saying that “this is the most important election of your lifetime.”
“Maybe everything is getting worse and worse, which makes every election more and more important,” the outgoing host mused.
Correspondent Roy Wood Jr. workshopped a few belated and desperate campaign slogans and promises for the Democrats from his perch at their Washington, D.C., headquarters. A few include “Vote for us and we’ll get rid of Mondays,” plans “to make a new season of ‘The Office’ and for Black voters, ‘Martin,’ ” and a new tax plan consisting of “pay what you want and we’ll make it so that everyone’s team makes it to the Super Bowl.” Wood reported that Democrats would also offer “unlimited breadsticks at every restaurant — even the Chinese ones,” year-round pumpkin spice lattes for “basic” people like Noah and “a surprise slap” at every Oscars.
Midway through, Noah also proudly announced the live projection that “Herschel Walker has won 23andMe.”
Correspondent Michael Kosta reported from “2020 Election deniers headquarters” in Phoenix, where he quipped that the Wi-Fi password is “HILLARY KILLED JFK ALSO IS JFK” — all caps. Kosta said they’re “having a blast and don’t think there’s any fraud in their elections,” tediously reviewing the “oval” logic used in their arguments.
