ABC late-night host Anthony Anderson used a credible Iranian threat against President Trump’s life as an opening for a vile joke wishing the president dead and burning in hell.
The Hollywood actor, filling in for Jimmy Kimmel, made the comment Monday night while covering the Secret Service’s decision to swap Air Force One for a military transport to evacuate Trump from Turkey last month after intelligence agencies flagged an active threat from Iran.
The remarks represent the latest example of mainstream entertainment figures treating serious national security matters involving the president as fodder for partisan mockery. Late-night television has increasingly blurred the line between political commentary and what critics describe as dangerous rhetoric that trivializes genuine threats against elected officials.
Anderson opened the segment by mocking Trump over a climate report, then delivered his punchline to a cheering studio audience.
“WELL, ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS WAIT TILL HE GETS TO HELL”
The audience roared approval.
Anderson then pivoted to the Turkey evacuation, calling it “the dumbest thing” he’d heard about Trump.
“Apparently, after the NATO summit last month, Trump hid inside a catering cart to sneak out of Turkey due to security threats,” Anderson said.
He followed with another insult: “Do you know how hard it is to sneak a pig out of Turkey?”
Anderson kept going, claiming the catering-cart method was “the same way he used to get onto Epstein’s plane” — a baseless smear with zero evidence tying Trump to Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal conduct.
The Epstein reference appears designed to evoke the disgraced financier’s sex trafficking operation, despite no evidence linking Trump to those crimes. The allegation exemplifies how unsubstantiated insinuations can be packaged as comedy and broadcast to millions without editorial scrutiny that would typically apply to news programming.
“If I was trying to find Donald Trump, a catering truck is the first place I’d look. Next time, hide his ass in a bookmobile,” Anderson joked.
The ABC host conveniently ignored the real story: Iran’s terror regime actively plotting against a sitting U.S. president, and the Secret Service doing its job under extraordinary threat conditions.
The security measures Anderson ridiculed reflect the serious and ongoing danger posed by Iranian operatives. U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps maintains active plans to target American officials, particularly Trump, in retaliation for actions taken during and after his presidency.
Presidential security protocols exist precisely for these scenarios, requiring rapid adjustments to travel plans when credible threats emerge. The Secret Service’s decision to alter transportation methods demonstrates the agency’s assessment that the Iranian threat required immediate defensive action.
President Trump addressed the incident himself Tuesday night at Joint Base Andrews.
“Well, it’s only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do,” Trump told reporters. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane — equal safety — but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say.”
“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats.”
Trump’s matter-of-fact response underscores how routine such security concerns have become for the former and current president, contrasting sharply with Anderson’s comedic treatment of the situation.
ABC and Disney — the network’s parent company — have yet to comment on Anderson’s remarks.
The silence from ABC’s corporate leadership raises questions about whether the network views Anderson’s comments as within acceptable bounds for broadcast entertainment, or whether the remarks crossed ethical lines by appearing to make light of assassination threats against a sitting president.
The joke comes amid escalating threats from Iran’s regime, which has repeatedly vowed revenge against Trump for the 2020 strike that ended terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani.
Soleimani, who headed Iran’s elite Quds Force, was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American service members and countless others throughout the Middle East before his elimination in a U.S. drone strike. Iranian officials have publicly and repeatedly declared their intention to avenge his death, making the threat against Trump both specific and credible according to U.S. intelligence assessments.
.@POTUS: "I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane… I do what they say… I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats." pic.twitter.com/Q5SgBpU1n1
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 12, 2026
