Jimmy Kimmel has mocked President Donald Trump’s relationship with aide Natalie Harp in a sketch on his late-night television show, introducing a performer dressed as a highly devoted “assistant Natalie”.
During his monologue, a woman in a red dress carrying a satchel and golf clubs ran on to the stage and offered to help the comedian. Kimmel introduced her as his assistant, without giving a surname.
She responded by calling him her “guardian” and “protector”, before remaining closely attached to him throughout the routine.
The character sprayed hand sanitiser over Kimmel, asked whether there were any “truths” he wanted to post and sat on the stage when he told her to take a seat.
The sketch ended with Kimmel’s longtime sidekick Guillermo wrestling the character out of the studio as she flailed, screamed and threw Skittles at him.
The portrayal drew on recent headlines involving Harp, after Senator Jon Ossoff criticised Trump over the suggestion that he wanted to spend more time with her than working on policies affecting ordinary Americans.
Letters Harp reportedly wrote to the president, including one saying he was “all that matters” to her, also attracted criticism.
Reports have also claimed that Harp played a significant role in the decision to remove several news organisations, including CNN and Politico, from the White House. A federal judge later overturned that decision.
Kimmel’s routine brought together those stories in a single comic portrayal of the Trump aide and her reported closeness to the president.
