The late night comedy shows were in a celebratory mood on Wednesday as they reacted to the midterm election results, but ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and NBC’s Late Night host Seth Meyers were especially happy to see Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed and Texas’s James Talarico overcome “vile attacks” and “fearmongering ads.”
Kimmel cued up a video of El-Sayed’s victory speech by declaring, “Another big one for Democrats was in Michigan, where Abdul el-Sayed became the first Muslim American ever elected to the Senate, despite being on the receiving end of vile attacks from Vice Couch Canoodler JD Vance, who got a little shout-out last night during El-Sayed's victory speech.”
Jimmy Kimmel hypes Abdul El-Sayed winning "despite being on the receiving end of vile attacks from Vice Couch Canoodler JD Vance, who got a little shout-out last night during El-Sayed's victory speech."
After El-Sayed cracked himself up over having to be sworn in by JD Vance,… pic.twitter.com/6RejAbWyqt— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) November 5, 2026
In the video, El-Sayed was shown cracking himself up at the prospect of his upcoming swearing in, “JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.”
Kimmel added that he was “finally having fun.”
About an hour later, Meyers praised Talarico while urging his critics to calm down, “But let me just say, don't worry, Texans, despite the fearmongering ads from his opponents, Talarico ran on affordability. Not a return to wokeism. No one's going to replace your brisket with tofu or make Landman join a polycule. ‘These are my non-binary partners, Zephyr and Willow. Now, before we have our three-way, we would like to acknowledge that this oil field is on the stolen land of the Apache people.’”
Seth Meyers hyped James Talarico overcoming "fear-mongering ads from his opponents...Texas is now so blue, the only remaining Republican in state-wide office is Ted Cruz. The next Texas GOP convention is just going to be Ted in an empty room — Wait, sorry. I'm being told that's… pic.twitter.com/0y1hHQFzUd
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) November 5, 2026
Meyers further basked in Democrats’ Texas wins by adding, “Texas is now so blue, the only remaining Republican in statewide office is Ted Cruz. The next Texas GOP convention is just going to be Ted in an empty room — wait, sorry. I'm being told that's a picture from his birthday party.”
Concerns about El-Sayed and Talarico don’t go away just because they happened to get elected. Now they have to prove that all their campaign conversions were authentic, but when they revert back to their pre-campaign selves, don’t expect the late night comedy shows to notice.
Here are transcripts for the November 4-taped shows:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
11/4/2026
11:53 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Another big one for Democrats was in Michigan, where Abdul el-Eayed became the first Muslim American ever elected to the Senate, despite being on the receiving end of vile attacks from Vice Couch Canoodler JD Vance, who got a little shout-out last night during El-Sayed's victory speech.
ABDUL EL-SAYED: JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.
KIMMEL: Finally having fun.
***
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
11/5/2026
12:51 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: Texas. That Texas is a blue state. But let me just say, don't worry, Texans, despite the fearmongering ads from his opponents, Talarico ran on affordability. Not a return to wokeism. No one's going to replace your brisket with tofu or make Landman join a polycule. "These are my non-binary partners, Zephyr and Willow. Now, before we have our three-way, we would like to acknowledge that this oil field is on the stolen land of the Apache people."
Texas is now so blue, the only remaining Republican in statewide office is Ted Cruz. The next Texas GOP convention is just going to be Ted in an empty room — wait, sorry. I'm being told that's a picture from his birthday party.
