President Donald Trump is telling Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon to “be a man” and stop “whimpering” about the personal anguish the NBC funnyman felt over the backlash he received after messing up Trump’s hair during a 2016 campaign appearance on Fallon’s late-night talk show.
Fallon told the Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter’ Podcast this week that he “made a mistake” during the Sept. 15, 2016, episode and would do the Trump interview differently if he could.
“I did not do it to ‘normalize’ him or to say I believe in his political beliefs or any of that stuff,” Fallon said.
“It was definitely a down time,” Fallon told the outlet. “There’s 300 people that work here, and so when people are talking that bad about you and ganging up on you, in a really gang-mentality…”
Fallon admitted he fell into a depression over backlash he received from the Trump interview.
“You go, ‘Alright, we get it. I heard you. You made me feel bad. So now what? Are you happy? I’m depressed. Do you want to push me more? What do you want me to do? You want me to kill myself? What would make you happy? Get over it.'” the NBC funnyman added.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to make anyone angry — I never do and I never will. It’s all in the fun of the show. I made a mistake. I’m sorry if I made anyone mad. And, looking back, I would do it differently.”
Fallon’s comments didn’t appear to sit well with President Trump.
“.@jimmyfallon is now whimpering to all that he did the famous “hair show” with me (where he seriously messed up my hair), & that he would have now done it differently because it is said to have “humanized” me-he is taking heat,” the President tweeted on Sunday evening. “He called & said “monster ratings.” Be a man Jimmy!”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.