Jimmy Kimmel Pranks Donald Trump Dallas Speech On Eve Of Debate
Jimmy Kimmel took late-night TV political campaign spoofing to a new level with his latest prank video, sending Jake Byrd to Donald Trump's Monday stump speech in Dallas. Byrd miraculously secured a seat behind Trump and in full view of news cameras. Kimmel broadcast the results on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, on the eve of the next GOP debate on CNN.
Among Byrd's antics outside the American Airlines Center, he got some Trump supporters to chant "DTF!" which was written on Byrd's hat, assuming it stood for "Donald Trump Forever." (Fans of MTV's Jersey Shore will recognize it as an acronym for "down to f*ck.")
In advance of last night's reveal, MSNBC's Chris Hayes noted Byrd and his DTF hat:
Could be "DIE" or "DJT" for Donald J Trump? Or maybe he's just DTF and wants us to know it. https://t.co/HWaCHLKpPR
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 15, 2015
But it was The New York Times that nearly spoiled the gag in advance of last night's JKL reveal when the newspaper sighted Byrd outside the venue and included him in its Monday oh-those-crazy-locals coverage of the Dallas speech crowd:
A man who identified himself as Jake Byrd — who appeared to be a performance artist, with past appearances on the Jimmy Kimmel Live television show — said Mr. Trump had been treated unfairly in the news media, singling out Mr. Trump's past comments about 'the blacks' in reference to African-Americans. He turned to two African-American women, covered in Trump buttons, to make his case.
"Uh," said one of the women, Beckie Hayes of Fort Worth, "we haven't picked up on that one yet."
Byrd continued to punk the NYT as it noted demonstrators outside the venue where the GOP front-runner was to speak. One of the protesters, Julio Quiroz, 25, wore a clown wig and held a sign "disparaging Mr. Trump," the NYT reported:
Mr. Byrd, the cheeky Trump supporter, wandered over to Mr. Quiroz to defend his candidate. Mr. Quiroz held firm, politely, laughing occasionally.
Mr. Byrd moved in for a hug.
"I'm going to build a wall around this Mexican," he said, drawing Mr. Quiroz near.
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