Late-night television hosts used their monologues to lampoon the second day of former president Donald Trump’s so-called “midterm convention,” drawing attention to its thin attendance and an attention-grabbing policy pledge.
Jimmy Kimmel quipped that “that arena was as empty as a Waymo,” referencing the autonomous-vehicle company, while other comedians across networks seized on the sparse crowd and the event’s unusual format. The appearance has been widely discussed for its theatrical staging and the optics of low turnout.
A central point of the coverage was Trump’s promise to send $5,000 to every adult US citizen if the Republican Party wins the upcoming midterm elections. Late-night hosts framed the pledge as a dramatic policy claim and questioned its practicality and cost, using satire to highlight logistical and political questions it raises.
The comedic response fits a long-standing pattern of political satire in American late-night programming, where hosts distill campaign moments into bite-sized critiques for broad audiences. The sketches and commentary amplified the event’s visuals and headline proposals, keeping them in the national conversation as the midterms approach.