Despite suggesting Julian Assange deserved the “death penalty” during a 2010 interview with Fox News, Donald Trump has become the WikiLeaks’ founder’s biggest fan. The president-elect spent most of Wednesday tweeting praise for Assange and his organization, while subsequently planning for a complete overhaul of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, which he and his advisors believe “has become bloated and politicized.” There’s also the matter of Trump’s tweeted response to his critics’ distaste for his pro-Assange stancem in which he claimed he “simply state what [Assange] states.”
All of this piqued Jimmy Kimmel Live‘s interest on Thursday, but the titular talk show host was especially intrigued by the Donald’s excuse. That he shouldn’t be blamed for merely repeating what Assange said in his interview with Sean Hannity:
“The part that jumped out at me was when he said it’s for the people to ‘make up their own minds as to the truth.’ Which is a weird thing to say because no it isn’t! You can’t make up your mind about the truth. The truth is the truth. If the truth isn’t true, it’s not the truth. Like if NASA says the earth is round and someone says it’s flat, that’s not a difference of opinion. The earth is round!”
To illustrate his point, Kimmel and an actor posing as a Starbucks barista (in an all-too obvious bit of product placement) argue over the price of a grande cappuccino. The barista (and his little sign) state a price of $3.75, but Kimmel — in seemingly Trumpian fashion — argues otherwise. “You’re opinion is that it’s $3.75,” he says, adding: “My opinion is that it costs one dollar.” The gag bears a striking resemblance to the logic behind a recent New Yorker cartoon, but considering their similarity to Trump’s actual behavior, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.