MSNBC anchor Brian Williams trolled House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy big time for meeting with former President Donald Trump just weeks after claiming he agreed Trump was responsible for the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol that left 5 people dead.
The longtime anchor setup an on-air gag by earnestly telling his guests, Baratunde Thurston and Bill Kristol, that he had obtained exclusive video of the Thursday meeting between Rep. McCarthy and Trump at Mar-a-Lago that McCarthy has been thoroughly criticized for.
Instead of actual footage from the meeting, however, Williams showed an iconic clip from the classic Tom Cruise film Jerry Maguire.
The particular clip from the movie features Tom Cruise and Renee Zellwegger famously telling each other how much they love each other with iconic lines like “you complete me,” and “you had me at hello.”
Comparing McCarthy and Trump’s relationship to the movie characters might indicate Williams is looking for a career in comedy if the news anchor gig doesn’t work out, as his guests were also quite amused by the gag.
Williams kept the joke going throughout the show, claiming he thought it was going to be an actual video of the meeting, and that “someone’s gonna be, of course, in big trouble.”
McCarthy is taking heat because it has only been two weeks since he criticized the former President for inciting the riots, but suddenly appears eager to work with him enough to fly to Mar-a-Lago and meet with him. Many see the meeting as a sign that Trump still has significant influence within the GOP.
This week, Donald Trump also launched the “Office of the Former President” in Palm Beach, Florida. Once the announcement was made it did not take long for him to be the brunt of some pretty hilarious jokes online.
Trump, 74, left the White House for the last time the morning of January 20 and is not staying at his private resort in Florida, Mar-a-Lago.
On Monday he issued a statement about the launch of the “office of the Former President.”
“The Office will be responsible for managing President Trump’s correspondence, public statements, appearances, and official activities to advance the interests of the United States and to carry on the agenda of the Trump Administration through advocacy, organizing, and public activism.”
Comedian Dave Weasel was one of the first to respond to the announcement on Twitter. He tweeted: “And now a word from the Office of the Former President,” and adding an image of a microphone being held over a trash bin. The post quickly racked up the likes.
Actor Joshua Malina, a former cast member of “The West Wing” television series, tweeted: “Trump’s Office of the Former President is located on the 4th floor of my Hey, I Used to Be on The West Wing Building.”
Political satirist Jeremy Newberger, a political satirist tweeted: “From the Office of the Former President. The Former President golfed today and then threatened a Republican Senator with ruin.”
Writer Matthew Sheffield wrote: “Conservatives: Participation trophies for kids are stupid and wrong. Also, conservatives: Show respect for the made-up ‘Office of the Former President’ to help Trump feel better.”
Inside Edition analyst, Jacob Rubashkin tweeted: “I wonder if all the people who protested that “there’s no such thing as ‘the Office of the President-elect’ in the Constitution” will bring that same energy to “the Office of the Former President.”
User @applebaum_eric tweeted out an image of a boarded-up waffle house, with the words: “Office of the Former President Like his actual Presidency, it’s gonna have more turnover than a Waffle House with shitty ventilation and bad cash flow.”
The @parlertakes account, which is mainly used to highlights comments made on Parler, wrote: “The Oval Office of the Former President,” sharing an image of Trump sitting at a desk pictured inside a closet space beneath a staircase.
Twitter user @sorayasname wrote: “Office of the former president. That’s like if the Miss Universe runner up went home, made her own crown and called a press conference to put it on,” with a gif image of a character from the U.S. Office television series laughing tearfully.
Twitter user @FourWideOnes shared the words: “DO YOU WANT TO BRING ME A DIET COKE? I’M LOCATED IN ‘THE OFFICE OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!'” with an image of Trump pictured talking to a child mowing a lawn.
Trump was impeached for a second time by the House making him the first president in US history to be impeached twice. The articles of impeachment were transferred to the Senate on Monday and Trump’s Senate impeachment trial will begin on February 8. Trump is also the only individual to face impeachment after leaving office.
A handful of Senate Republicans believe that moving forward with impeachment will only be divisive. A few also believe it is unconstitutional.
“I believe an impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional and would set a very dangerous precedent,” Senator Ron Johnson tweeted on January 21.
“There is no provision in the Constitution for holding such a trial over a former president who is now a private citizen. Where would we get the authority to do so?” he added.
