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Donald Trump

Donald Trump tells Jimmy Fallon to ‘be a man’ in row over hair messing episode

Source: News Corp Australia Network:
June 25, 2018 at 07:43
Jimmy Fallon says he regrets tousling Donald Trump’s hair during the presidential campaign.Source:AP
Jimmy Fallon says he regrets tousling Donald Trump’s hair during the presidential campaign.Source:AP
DONALD Trump has blasted Jimmy Fallon after the popular American TV host admitted his regret over a segment with the President.

DONALD Trump has slammed chat show host Jimmy Fallon over the infamous “hair messing” incident during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In a scathing tweet, the US President told Fallon to stop “whimpering” and “be a man”.

The Tonight Show host recently told an interviewer he regretted playfully tousling Mr Trump’s hair as he didn’t mean to “normalise (Trump) or to say I believe in his political beliefs.”

MORE: Trump calls immigrants ‘invaders’

Jimmy Fallon copped a huge backlash for “humanising” Donald Trump by playfully stroking his hair during the presidential campaign.
Jimmy Fallon copped a huge backlash for “humanising” Donald Trump by playfully stroking his hair during the presidential campaign.Source:AP

Mr Trump said Fallon was “taking heat” over the incident as he had privately called him, lauding the episode’s “monster ratings”.

Hours after the US President’s damning tweet, Fallon responded, saying he would be making a donation to RAICES Texas, the non-profit firm that provides legal services to immigrants.

He said: “In honour of the President’s tweet I’ll be making a donation to RAICES in his name.”

The hair-messing TV appearance caused an outcry at the time, with critics accusing Fallon of “humanising” a person who encouraged hateful rhetoric.

In a column on the topic, Variety‘s then-TV critic Sonia Saraiya said the interview caused Fallon to lose “the last shred” of “any credibility as a thinking comedian with a point-of-view” that he may have had left.

Jimmy Fallon has been criticised for not being as political as other US late-night talk show hosts.
Jimmy Fallon has been criticised for not being as political as other US late-night talk show hosts.Source:AFP

In his post-Super Bowl episode last February, Fallon updated Bob Dylan’s iconic The Times, They Are a Changin to critique Mr Trump.

Fallon reworked the 1964 classic to take on Mr Trump’s attitudes towards women, race and the media.

Fallon has previously been criticised for not being as political as other US late-night talk show hosts, who regularly use their platforms to take on Mr Trump.

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