Jimmy Kimmel isn’t buying Fox News’ explanation for why it used old footage during coverage of a dignified transfer ceremony involving President Donald Trump. The late-night host devoted a segment of his Monday monologue to calling out the network for what he suggested was a deliberate attempt to shield viewers from Trump’s unconventional headwear at the solemn event.
Jimmy Kimmel slams Fox news
The late show host first focused his criticism on Trump’s decision to wear a branded baseball cap during the dignified transfer, where six fallen service members were honored. The 79-year-old president wore a white hat with “USA” on the front, “45-47” on the right side, and an American flag on the left. It’s currently selling for $55 on his merchandise website.
Fox News, in its coverage, twice used archival footage from a December 2025 dignified transfer instead of showing the current ceremony. A network spokesperson told the Daily Beast the mistake happened because “the archival footage was mistakenly used during the video sourcing process. We regret the error and apologize for the incorrect footage.”
Kimmel wasn’t buying it. “We deeply regret the error, and deeply regret getting caught for the error,” Kimmel quipped during his monologue. “Whenever the president does something shameful, the heroes at Fox News swoop in to clean it up for him.”
The late-night host contrasted Fox’s handling of Trump’s protocol breach with how the network treats Democratic figures. Jimmy Kimmel played a montage of Fox News pundits, including Sean Hannity, expressing outrage at former President Barack Obama for saluting while holding a coffee cup.
“But hey, these things happen, right?” Kimmel said sarcastically. “I’m sure if CNN made that mistake, the folks at Fox would be super chill about it. And I know that if any [Democratic] president did something that was deemed to be disrespectful… if one of them ran afoul of military protocol, I’m sure Fox would look the other way on that too, right?”
Jimmy Kimmel closed by praising Fox News as “Not just fair: fair and balanced, folks”—a nod to the network’s former slogan, which it retired after 2016.
