Jimmy Kimmel Tears Into Donald Trump’s Charlie Kirk Response
Kimmel used other former presidents’ tributes as an example.
Jimmy Kimmel has criticized President Donald Trump for his response to Charlie Kirk’s death.
The prominent right-wing activist was shot and killed Wednesday at Utah Valley University. Authorities are still searching for the shooter.
Kimmel condemned Kirk’s murder at the start of his monologue, describing it as “senseless.”
“I‘ve seen a lot of extraordinarily vile responses to this from both sides of the political spectrum,” Kimmel said. “Some people are cheering this, which is something I won’t ever understand.”
“With all these terrible things happening,” Kimmel said, “you would think that our president would at least make an attempt to bring us together, but he didn’t.”
We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 10, 2025
Showing the audience the posts on X from each president, Kimmel noted, “President Obama did. President Biden did. Presidents Bush and Clinton did. President Trump did not.”
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“Instead, he blamed Democrats for their rhetoric,” Kimmel said.
The late-night host was referring to how Trump had quickly put the blame for Kirk’s shooting on the rhetoric of the “radical left,” saying, “We just have to beat the hell out of them.”
Kimmel reeled off some of Trump’s apparent calls to violence throughout the past decade.
“The man who told a crowd of supporters that maybe the second amendment people should do something about Hillary Clinton,” Kimmel said. “The man who said he wouldn’t mind if someone shot through the fake news media.”
He continued, “The man who unleashed a mob on the Capitol, and said Liz Cheney should face nine barrels shooting at her for supporting his opponent, blames the radical left for their rhetoric."
Kimmel also noted, “We had another school shooting yesterday in Colorado, the hundredth one of the year.” He was referring to the shooting in Jefferson County, Colorado, which left three people in critical condition.
Although Kirk’s murder likely occurred too close to taping on Wednesday for Kimmel to address it on the show itself, Kimmel did post on Instagram about the event before the show aired.
“Can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” Kimmel wrote.
He added, “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”
Jimmy Kimmel has long been an outspoken critic of President Trump, while Trump has repeatedly insulted Kimmel and has openly rooted for his show to be canceled.
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