‘Last Man Standing’: Mike Goes ‘Trump’ During H.R. ‘Witch Hunt’ Investigation

In this week’s episode of Last Man Standing, Tim Allen‘s Mike Baxter did an impersonation of President Donald Trump by denouncing a human resources investigation as a “witch hunt” and “fake news.”

“HR’s Rough N’ Stuff” began with Mike’s son-in-law, Kyle Anderson (Christoph Sanders) failing at another job at Outdoor Man. He was hiring too many people in personnel because of his inability to say anything that might not make someone happy. Mike knew he needed a new job, and Ed (Hector Elizondo) feared Mike was going to be too tough on Kyle.

“He’s the closest thing I have to family,” Ed said, revealing he has left his home to Kyle instead of his own kin.

“You know you have an actual family,” Mike reminded him.

“I want to take care of the man!” Ed protested.

“Kyle’s not the kind of man who wants to be taken care of. He’s the kind of man who wants to take care of people,” Mike said.

“So I shouldn’t put him in my will?”

“No, do that… then I won’t have to leave Mandy anything,” Mike said.

Later on, Mandy (Molly McCook) suggested her husband might not be able to take failure again. Mike told him he planned to make Kyle the head of human resources. Mike insisted Kyle would be good at this job, so Mandy accepted that.

At Outdoor Man, Kyle found himself fitting in, but then Chuck (Jonathan Adams) and Joe (Jay Leno) showed up. They wanted to file a complaint against Mike because of all the insults he hurls at them every day. Kyle thought he would struggle taking the case and sought some advice from Ed.

Eventually, Kyle decided to have a grievance hearing, following company policies, with Mike sitting across the table from Joe and Chuck. While Kyle tried to keep some sense of decorum, Mike yelled “witch hunt” before Kyle could finish his sentence, echoing Trump’s complaints about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. Mike also yelled, “fake news.”

Kyle said Mike was “out of order,” then after Joe had his outburst, Kyle called him “out of order.” Mike continued being confrontational during the meeting. Then, Chuck listed all the insults he has to take from his boss before the hearing devolved into a yelling match.

Kyle later surprised everyone involved by telling everyone to stop yelling.

“I want you all to look at each other and think about the mean and dismissive words that you’ve used at this meeting, like bastard and bonehead,” Kyle said. “That’s not how co-workers talk to each other and it’s definitely not how friends should. At Outdoor Man, we’re not just co-workers. We’re not just friend. We’re family and it’s time you guys started acting like one.”

Ed came in applauding, and the other guys revealed it was all a ploy. It was just a test to prove that Kyle could be good at something.

“I don’t mean to boast, but I think I got a solid C,” Kyle said.

“I think I’ll give you an A-plus,” Ed said.

“I’m a little tougher than Ed, but I’ll give you an ‘A-plus’ too,” Mike said. “Listen, you know how people should be treated, right? And that gooey – dare I say – little liberal heart of yours is why I put you in H.R. That’s where you belong.”

Kyle thanked Mike and then ran off, giving Mike a chance to ask Ed if he is in his will.

“Look at you, thinking that I’m going to die first,” Ed joked.

The next episode of Last Man Standing, “The Gift of the Mike Guy,” airs on Friday, Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

Photo credit: Michael Becker / FOX