Jimmy Kimmel on Jeffrey Epstein tapes about Trump friendship

In a series of newly released tapes released this weekend by the Daily Beast, convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein can be heard speaking to author Michael Wolff about his relationship with Donald Trump. In the recordings, Epstein tells Wolff that he was Trump's best friend for a decade and describes many of her scandalous exploits.

Audio excerpts from Wolff's interview with Epstein in August 2017 – two years before he was found dead in a prison cell – can be found on the Daily Beast's website. These are the kind of shocking revelations that would normally torpedo a political campaign. But as “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host Jimmy Kimmel noted during his monologue Monday night, it had no impact.

“We heard a bombshell audio recording of Jeffrey Epstein saying he was Trump's 'closest friend' and telling a lot of crazy stories – that hardly moves the point,” Kimmel noted. “Do you remember Mitt Romney going down for putting a dog carrier on the roof of his car? We just watched a hundred hours of Jeffrey Epstein saying he and Trump were best friends. I didn't even get a notification about it on my phone. I didn’t get a text message about it.”

Kimmel noted that Wolff “took a lot of time to release this information.” He pointed out that Epstein once described Trump as having “no moral compass.” Kimmel quipped, “Do you know what kind of moron you have to be for Jeffrey Epstein to say you have no morals? It's like R. Kelly being mad at you for leaving the toilet seat up.”

He added: “But none of the many child protection advocates who wear his roles seem to care. “The truth means almost nothing.”

Wolff was researching his book “Fire and Fury” when he interviewed Epstein in 2017. (The Trump campaign, for its part, called the tapes “false slanders” and “election interference” in a statement to the Daily Beast.)

Kimmel shared footage from a rally in Pennsylvania where Trump joked about reporters being shot. “I don’t know, at least he’s honest, I think,” Kimmel said.

He then noted Trump spokesman Stephen Cheung's attempt to explain that the statement “had nothing to do with harming the media” (even though Trump clearly states in the clip that he “wouldn't mind” , if reporters were shot).

“Spoken like a proud graduate of Trump University,” Kimmel said.

Meanwhile, Kimmel ended his monologue with a final plea to the American public: Let's put an end to the drama and the stress.

“Forget what side you’re on,” he said. “I want you to take a moment and imagine a world where you wake up in the morning, read the news, and no one says the words 'Donald' or 'Trump.'” Just a bunch of normal, boring stuff. Wouldn't that be nice? No lawn signs. No red hats. No arguing with your grandfather. You check the sports, Al Roker takes care of the weather – and then it's time to get to work. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Let’s remove this cancerous polyp from our shared national colon and move on. And don’t forget to vote!”