Jimmy Kimmel offers alternative jury questionnaire for Trump’s hush money trial
The late-night host Jimmy Kimmel injected a dose of humour into Donald Trump’s hush money trial proceedings on Tuesday night, offering an alternative questionnaire for jurors in the case.
Despite his many attempts to toss out or delay the case, Mr Trump is set to face trial for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and others to stop them from going public days before the 2016 presidential election about alleged affairs, with jury selection due to begin on 15 April.
On Monday, the judge released a list of 42 questions that will be used to select 12 impartial jurors and six alternates for the first-ever criminal trial featuring a former or sitting president, with jurors being asked if they have ever considered themselves a supporter or a member of any of six white supremacist and extremist groups – including the QAnon movement, Proud Boys and Antifa, or if they have ever attended a rally or campaign event for Mr Trump, volunteered for his campaign or been a part of any “anti-Trump” efforts.
However, jurors will not be asked who they vote for, nor will lawyers question them about their political affiliations or campaign contributions.
Following the release of the questionnaire, Kimmel suggested he could do a better job of coming up with questions for selecting jurors.
“I wish I could get in on questioning these potential jurors. I feel like I’d be so good at it,” he said.
He went on to list the questions he had picked for his alternative questionnaire, starting on a serious note: “Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked for any company or organisation that is owned or run by Donald Trump or anyone in his family?” he asked.
His questions then took a more comical route. “Has former [president] Trump ever buried you or anyone you love on one of his golf courses?,” he suggested, referencing Mr Trump’s decision to bury his late ex-wife Ivana Trump at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.
He then proposed that lawyers ask jurors their “preferred morning beverage of choice”, offering a choice of coffee, tea, Mountain Dew Code Red, or Sherwin-Williams low gloss interior house paint.
Other questions included: “Have you ever had sex with Donald Trump? If yes, for how many seconds?,” and “How many babies do you believe Hillary Clinton eats in a day?”
Meanwhile, Mr Kimmel suggested that lawyers add to the list of groups that jurors will be required to declare if they have ever been affiliated with, including: “The Pep Boys, The Backstreet Boys, Boys II Men, The Baha Men, The Juggalos, Bronies, Trekkies, Furries, Oompa Loompas, and Kanye West”.
Mr Kimmel ended the segment by suggesting one final question: “Sir: Does your truck have nuts?”
