Add Jimmy Fallon — yes, that Jimmy Fallon — to the stack of late-night hosts slugging it out with the President of the United States. NBC’s Tonight Show star used the bully pulpit of his monologue tonight to hit the ball back in Donald Trump’s court after POTUS skewered him on Twitter as “whimpering” and counseled him to “be a man.” It all started with a published interview in which Fallon admitted that, during a Tonight Show sit-down two years ago, he did not tussle then-candidate Trump’s hair to “normalize him” or to stand by his political beliefs. He added that he was sorry and that he’d made a mistake. “Looking back,” Fallon said. “I would do it differently.” Fallon later said after the presidential tweet that he was making a donation in the president’s name to RAICES, the Texas-based immigration services non-profit working to reunite families who were separated at the border. Related Story Jimmy Fallon Gives Rare Slap Back At Donald Trump Over 'Be A Man' Slag; Host Donates To TV Scribes' Stop Border Separation Campaign Later on Monday, Trump — cue the “breaking news” fanfare — doubled down on his Fallon bashing during a rally in South Carolina. But that happened after the usually apolitical Fallon had taped his opening remarks, during which he led with, “Before we begin, I just wanna give a shout out to our show’s No. 1 fan – the President of the United States!” That launched a series of mini-zingers that continued with the likes of:<doc-sep>This image was removed due to legal reasons. President Donald Trump gets into rivalries multiple times a day because he’s a combative and immature narcissist, but his most recent rivalry might be the most pathetic one yet. And yes, it involves Jimmy Fallon. Advertisement Last week, Fallon did what post-2016 Jimmy Fallon does best—lament that, two months before the 2016 election, he ruffled the reverse-Midas situation atop Donald Trump’s head that many people refer to as “hair.” Naturally, the President of the United States of America raged on Twitter about it, firing off his famous, dubious claim that the late night host called him to report that he had “monster ratings.” Fallon’s initial response was to make a donation to immigrant rights group RAICES in Trump’s name, which is good. But then Fallon went and addressed it on his show last night—after all, a Trump tweet is a very big get and Jimmy Kimmel talks about his Trump rivalry!—and things got weird again. In his opening monologue Fallon, called the president out: “When I saw that Trump insulted me on Twitter, I was gonna tweet back immediately, but I thought, ‘I have more important things to do.’ Then I thought, ‘Wait – shouldn’t he have more important things to do? He’s the president! What are you doing? You’re the president! Why are you tweeting at me?’” Haha! Fallon then went on to debunk the phone call Trump alleges he made, and further, quashed any semblance of success the show may have had in a self- own for the ages: “By the way, Donald. I don’t know if you’ve seen my ratings the past two years — you didn’t help my ratings. But really, thanks a lot. Thanks for nothing.” Oh. I guess the joke is on Trump because actually Fallon’s show is failing? Ha ha?<doc-sep>(CNN) — President Donald Trump attacked Jimmy Fallon on Twitter Sunday after “The Tonight Show” host expressed regret about a friendly interview during the campaign. Trump’s outburst – which references a light-hearted moment on the show during the 2016 campaign – is the latest example of him using his platform as president to respond to perceived slights made by entertainers. “. @jimmyfallon is now whimpering to all that he did the famous ‘hair show’ with me (where he seriously messed up my hair), & that he would have now done it differently because it is said to have ‘humanized’ me-he is taking heat. He called & said ‘monster ratings.’ Be a man Jimmy!” Trump tweeted. Fallon said in response he would make a donation in Trump’s name to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, a non-profit group that provides legal services to immigrants. In honor of the President’s tweet I’ll be making a donation to RAICES in his name. — jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) June 25, 2018 The back-and-forth refers to a “Tonight Show” appearance Trump made in the fall of 2016, where the then-Republican presidential nominee let Fallon mess with his hair. The lighthearted appearance led to criticism for Fallon, who said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he wasn’t trying to “normalize” Trump or express agreement with his politics. “I made a mistake,” Fallon said. “I’m sorry if I made anyone mad. And, looking back, I would do it differently.” The “Tonight Show” host first publicly expressed regret for the 2016 interview last year, telling The New York Times that his critics “have a right to be mad.”<doc-sep>NBC More than any other host in late-night, Jimmy Fallon generally tries to keep "The Tonight Show" out of the political fray. On Monday morning, though, Donald Trump yanked him in by insulting him via Twitter, so Fallon had no choice but to respond. The NBC star started off with a bit of cheek at the top of his monologue by giving "a shout-out to our number-one fan, the President of the United States." He then spoke directly to the first lady for a moment. "Melania, if you're watching, I don't think your anti-bullying campaign is working," he said into the camera. "It's not working." But even that wasn't the thing that irked him the most about the whole thing. Fallon admitted he was initially going to respond back immediately to the president's tweet, but then he realized he had more important things to do. "Then I thought, wait, shouldn't he have more important things to do?" Fallon asked. "He's the president. What are you doing? You're the president. Why are you tweeting at me?" . @jimmyfallon is now whimpering to all that he did the famous “hair show” with me (where he seriously messed up my hair), & that he would have now done it differently because it is said to have “humanized” me-he is taking heat. He called & said “monster ratings.” Be a man Jimmy! @realDonaldTrump Later in the show, he delved a little further into what Donald Trump said exactly in his tweet, taking particular issue with Trump's claim that Fallon called him to tout the "monster ratings" of Trump's appearance on the show. "First of all, I've never called this human in my life," Fallon said. "I don't have his number, I don't want his number. "By the way, Donald, I don't know if you've seen my ratings the past two years, but you didn't help my ratings," he added as a quick aside. Prior to the election, Fallon had enjoyed a healthy ratings lead over his closest late-night rival Stephen Colbert on CBS, but since the "hair show," as Trump put it, he's seen his ratings decline while Vulture reported that Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel's more topical content has given them notable boosts. Of course, Fallon isn't going to miss an opportunity to trot out the best Trump impression in late-night. After mentioning that his official Twitter response to the president's attack was to make a donation in his name to RAICES, the organization helping reunite immigrant families in Texas, Fallon's Trump said, "I love RAICES, they're my favorite peanut butter cup. There's no wrong way to eat a RAICES." Time will tell if Fallon takes this opportunity to get even more political on his show, but we suspect he won't. With everyone being so focused on Trump all the time, Fallon has proven a rare respite from the constant drama and turmoil, and that's where he's more comfortable. He told "Today" last October, "I don't really even care that much about politics." Unfortunately, it looks like politics cares about him.<doc-sep>
Jimmy Fallon thinks President Trump should have better things to do than make fun of the comedian on Twitter and said as much in his Monday-night Tonight Show monologue addressing the leader of the United States. “As you may have heard last night, the president of the United States went after me on Twitter. So, Melania, if you’re watching, I don’t think your anti-bullying campaign is working,” Fallon said, referring to a Twitter outburst Trump had over the past weekend in which he chided Fallon to “be a man.” . @jimmyfallon is now whimpering to all that he did the famous “hair show” with me (where he seriously messed up my hair), & that he would have now done it differently because it is said to have “humanized” me-he is taking heat. He called & said “monster ratings.” Be a man Jimmy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018 Trump’s attack on Fallon didn’t come out of the blue. The tweet appears to have been in response to a Hollywood Reporter interview of Fallon in which he expressed regret for having invited Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, to his late-night show in September 2016 where Fallon lobbed softball questions at Trump and famously ruffled his hair. Fallon was criticized for normalizing Trump and not doing more to confront him about his politics or behavior, which the Tonight Show host has been justifying or apologizing for ever since. “I did not do it to ‘normalize’ him or to say I believe in his political beliefs or any of that stuff,” Fallon told THR in the interview. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to make anyone angry — I never do and I never will. It’s all in the fun of the show. I made a mistake. I’m sorry if I made anyone mad. And, looking back, I would do it differently.” As THR pointed out, Fallon has lost one-fifth of his viewers since January 2017 and was not nominated for an Emmy for the first time in many years. It’s unclear, however, how much of that drop-off has been directly related to his Trump interview or his general reluctance to wade too deep into political humor after the election. But on Monday night, he addressed Trump head-on. In his Tonight Show monologue, Fallon didn’t directly reference the hair-ruffling saga, but he did poke fun at the president’s Twitter confrontation. “When I saw that Trump insulted me on Twitter I was going to tweet back immediately, but I thought, ‘I have more important things to do,’” Fallon said. “Then I thought, ‘Wait, shouldn’t he have more important things to do?’ He’s the president of the — what are you doing? You’re the president. And you’re tweeting at me.” Fallon also announced he was making a donation to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) in Trump’s name — obliquely referencing the criticism the president has received because of his administration’s policy of separating migrant families at the US border. He then used the announcement to pivot into what might be a quintessential Jimmy Fallon-style Trump joke: “When Trump heard that, he said, ‘I love RAICES; they’re my favorite peanut butter cup,’” Fallon joked. “‘There’s no wrong way to eat a RAICES.’”