The Tonight Show got really weird on Tuesday, and it was sort of wonderful.
Watch: the Full House cast teaches Trump a lesson in a totally weird Tonight Show sketch
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.
The late-night series featured a sketch in which “Donald Trump,” played by host Jimmy Fallon, takes on the role of Michelle Tanner (originated by the Olsen twins) in a faux episode of Fuller House, the upcoming Netflix reunion/sequel series to Full House.
Trump is having trouble sleeping, so his dad and two uncles — Danny Tanner (Bob Saget), Uncle Joey (Dave Coulier), and Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) — try to help. In Full House canon, the Tanner kids know that Joey and Jesse are their uncles, but for some reason throughout the sketch, Trump refers to them as his “three dads,” possibly adding a bizarre new wrinkle to the show.
Trump reveals that he’s scared he’ll lose the Republican presidential nomination and the election, and he doesn’t want to be called a loser. In true Full House fashion, each member of the Tanner family plus Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) gives Trump advice and tells him that, win or lose, everything will be okay. All the characters repeat their signature catchphrase in the process.
It’s unclear whether The Tonight Show realizes how bizarre it is to see Bob Saget crawl into bed with Donald Trump (Fallon almost breaks character three or four times), or how strange it is for Trump to be talking about building a giant wall to keep Gibbler out of the Tanner house (and make her pay for it), but it all sort of works, thanks to a mix of nostalgia and awkward humor.
“And just remember, Donald, if you win and become president, that’s great,” Danny says. “But if you lose and don’t become president, we’ll be even prouder.”
