'We'd be better off with a monkey president': Late night hosts roast Trump’s ‘hunch’ about coronavirus death rate

Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers are among the Late Night hosts poking fun at Trump's remarks

Late Night hosts are continuing their assault on Trump’s ignorance of the coronavirus with Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel making a slew of jokes at Trump’s ‘hunch’ about its death rate.

Trump told Fox News earlier this week that he has a “hunch” that the death rate is “way under 1 percent”, branding the World Health Organisations (WHO) estimate of 3.4 percent a “false number.”

The President insisted to Sean Hannity that the WHO, a specialised agency of the United Nations that is concerned with world public health, had given an incorrect wrong mortality rate.

Stephen Colbert at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was having none of the President’s ignorant speculation.

“Science is not based on hunches that’s why Bill Nye the Science Guy is more successful than his rival Phil Munch Man of Hunch,” he laughed.

“This isn’t the art of the deal you can’t negotiate with science. You’re saying I have 6-8 weeks to live how about 10-12. 9 weeks final offer of I’m walking.”

Jimmy Kimmel also took another number of jabs at the president, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, becoming more exasperated with his seemingly unequipped attitude and spread of disinformation.

“We really would have been better off with a monkey president,” Kimmel groans.

“If you’re President of the Unites States you don’t go with hunches you have the world’s greatest scientists at your disposal you go with them, you listen to them.

“The only hunch you should have is the one in your back when you’re leaning over that 12 piece bucket of extra crispy KFC.”

Trump also suggested that some people are still able to go to work after contracting the virus.

“See, for him, going to work means sitting around watching nine hours of Fox News in his underpants, so he doesn’t understand what that means,” Kimmel joked.

Seth Meyers also lambasted the President’s off-hand remarks about going to work with the virus on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

“So now he’s telling people its okay to go to work when they’re sick this from a guy who doesn’t even go to work when they’re healthy.”

Amongst the jests, Meyers emphasised how worrying Trump’s response to the virus has been: “This is the kind of public health crisis that tests the competence and honesty of our president, and obviously Trump is completely unequipped on both counts,”

“We need truth, transparency, and testing, and we’re not going to get it from Donald Trump.”

When asked by Mr Hannity about the death rate, Mr Trump said: “I think the 3.4 percent is really a false number.”

“Now this is just my hunch, but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this, because a lot of people will have this and it’s very mild, they’ll get better very rapidly.”

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “globally, about 3.4 percent of reported COVID-19 cases have died; by comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1 percent of those infected.”