Late-night TV moves fast. One minute you're watching a standard monologue about the news, and the next, there’s a grown man in a chicken-taco hybrid suit dancing to a disco remix. If you’ve been online recently, you’ve probably seen the "Taco Man" clips from Jimmy Kimmel Live! floating around. It isn't just a random bit of slapstick. It’s actually a sharp, somewhat mean-spirited jab at a very specific political phenomenon.
Honestly, the whole thing started with an acronym. "TACO" stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. It wasn't even Kimmel who came up with it—it was actually Robert Armstrong, a columnist for the Financial Times. He used the term to describe the "TACO Trade" on Wall Street, where investors buy the dip after a tariff threat, betting that the president will eventually back down.
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Naturally, Jimmy Kimmel saw this and ran with it. He didn't just mention it; he turned it into a full-blown musical production.
Why Jimmy Kimmel Taco Man Went Viral
The "Taco Man" parody is a direct riff on the Village People’s classic "Macho Man." If you know anything about campaign rallies, you know that song gets played a lot. Kimmel’s team flipped the script, changing the lyrics to mock the pattern of announcing aggressive policies only to retreat when the markets get shaky.
It’s catchy. It’s annoying. And it’s exactly the kind of thing that gets under a politician's skin.
Kimmel even joked that Trump "doesn't like the nickname at all." He showed clips of the president reacting poorly to a reporter's question about the moniker, calling it "nasty." For a late-night host who has built a decade-long brand on being a thorn in the side of the MAGA movement, this was a goldmine. The song basically became the anthem for critics who felt the administration’s trade policies were more about bluster than actual follow-through.
The Guillermo Factor
You can't talk about Jimmy Kimmel and food-based comedy without mentioning Guillermo Rodriguez. While the "Taco Man" song was a specific political parody, Guillermo has been the show’s unofficial "food ambassador" for years.
Just this month—January 2026—Guillermo actually launched his own line of salsas called Guillermo’s Salsa. It’s a real thing. It’s funny how life imitates art; he went from being a security guard discovered in the parking lot to a guy with his own "mild, medium, and hot" products in the refrigerated section of grocery stores.
Some people find the "bumbling sidekick" trope a bit dated. There’s been plenty of debate on Reddit and in entertainment circles about whether Jimmy’s treatment of Guillermo leans too hard into stereotypes. But Guillermo seems to be laughing all the way to the bank, reportedly earning half a million a year and now launching his own brand. Whether you see it as a "crude stereotype" or "harmless fun," their chemistry is the engine that makes bits like the Taco Man parody work.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Sketch
A lot of people think the "Taco Man" bit was just a one-off joke about Mexican food. It wasn't.
It was a very calculated piece of political satire. The "chicken" part of the taco is the key. The costume used in the video—which shows a taco with a chicken head—symbolizes the "Chickens Out" part of the TACO acronym.
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- The Origin: Wall Street insiders (the "TACO trade").
- The Execution: A high-energy disco parody.
- The Goal: To highlight perceived indecisiveness in tariff negotiations.
It’s interesting to see how financial jargon from a serious publication like the Financial Times can get chewed up and spit out by Hollywood as a viral meme. It’s a weird era we live in.
Is the Taco Man Still Relevant?
Comedy about specific news cycles usually has a shelf life of about 48 hours. However, "Taco Man" seems to have stayed in the rotation because it’s a "sticky" nickname.
Kimmel has a history of these types of long-running gags. Think about his "feud" with Matt Damon. It started as a throwaway line at the end of a bad show and turned into a twenty-year bit. While "Taco Man" might not last that long, it has become a shorthand for whenever a major policy is announced and then immediately walked back.
Basically, as long as there are trade wars and Twitter (or X) meltdowns, you’re probably going to see someone in the comments section posting a GIF of a dancing taco with a chicken head.
If you’re looking to catch the original segment, it’s all over the Jimmy Kimmel Live! YouTube channel. You’ll find the full monologue from late May 2025 where he breaks down the "TACO" acronym before launching into the song. Just be warned: the "T-A-C-O" chorus will stay in your head for at least three days.
To see how the "Taco Man" energy has evolved into real-world business, you should check out the latest updates on Guillermo's new salsa line. It's a prime example of how late-night characters are transitioning from the screen to your local supermarket shelves.