‘Dumbest Republican lie yet’: Jimmy Kimmel roasts Trump over AI cat memes after Harris debate showdown

Late-night show host likened the debate to ‘the Lion King when Simba came back to avenge Mufasa’

Jimmy Kimmel has compared Kamala Harris’s performance in the presidential debate against Donald Trump to “the Lion King when Simba came back to avenge Mufasa.”

The comedian fired off the one-liner on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday night’s debate where he also mocked Trump for posting “insane” AI-generated cat memes and for repeating the wild, fake news story about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio.

“So much insanity coming out of this Republican campaign,” Kimmel said. “On the day of the debate he’s posting cat memes. Do you think he even knows they’re AI?”

“These memes are part of what might be the dumbest Republican lie yet,” he added, referring to the rumor about Haitians spread by Trump’s running mate JD Vance.

“The one thing his handlers begged him not to mention was the Haitians eating pets,” Kimmel said.

“So what does he do?” he asked, before playing the clip to laughter from his audience.

The AI image of Trump rescuing two cats was mocked by Kimmel (@terraverde/X)

Earlier on debate day, Trump posted a number of cat-related AI images on Truth Social, including one depicting a cat wearing a MAGA baseball cap holding a gun, and another of the former president on a plane surrounded by cats and ducks.

Kimmel also shared one Trump fan’s AI image depicting him running away from two men of color, with a cat under each arm.

“I can buy Trump grabbing two p*****s at once... I just can’t imagine him running,” the host quipped.

Donald Trump Jr had also shared a bizarre AI image of his father on the back of a giant cat holding a gun, captioned: “Save our pets!!!!!”

Jimmy Kimmel roasted Donald Trump on his debate performance against Kamala Harris (Jimmy Kimmel Live)

On his late-night show, Kimmel also pointed to reports that Trump’s advisers had reportedly been anxious over whether “happy Trump” or “angry Trump” would show up on the night of the debate and had hoped he would keep his cool when Harris inevitably tried to rattle him.

“Trump’s advisers before the debate, they urged him to be ‘happy Trump’ instead of ‘mean bully Trump’ and to please focus on the issues,” Kimmel said.

“Of course, he didn’t listen to any of that at all.”

On Tuesday night’sThe Daily Show, late-night host Jon Stewart also praised Harris for her debate performance, concluding that “she crushed that” with her takedown of Trump’s false abortion claims.

Trump shared this AI-generated image of a cat in a MAGA baseball cap on Truth Social (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)

The vice president was responding to Trump taking credit for his role in the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade and claiming “all Americans” wanted abortion rights decided by individual states.

“You want to talk about ‘this is what people wanted?’” Harris said. “Pregnant women… being denied care in an emergency room because their healthcare providers are afraid they might go to jail and she’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn’t want that.”

Stewart also joked that Harris “attacked what is [Trump’s] most cherished family member – his rally crowds.”

The former president lost his cool and responded furiously when Harris remarked people left his rallies early out of “exhaustion and boredom.”