Jimmy Kimmel has ripped into MAGA’s baseless defense of Donald Trump’s joke about taking out Los Angeles and San Diego.
At a campaign rally in Nebraska ahead of the midterms, Trump addressed the crowd about America making sacrifices amid his ongoing war with Iran. In one instance, seemingly justifying rising fuel and gas prices, he said, “It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe.” The 80-year-old president then said, “They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon.”
California politicians across the political spectrum, including Gavin Newsom, Republican Jim Desmond, and Rep. Kevin Kiley, have criticized his ludicrous remarks.
Kimmel called Trump’s comments “truly appalling” on Tuesday, pointing out that the crowd at his rally was “cheering in response.”
“He’s talking about Iran bombing us. And I know he says a lot of crazy things. I know this is something we’ll forget about by Thursday, when he accidentally swallows a baby at a rally or whatever the hell he does next. But that’s one of the craziest, most indefensible statements I have ever heard, even this maniac make,” said the ABC host, who lives in Los Angeles.
“Openly musing about Iran, a country we are currently at war with, taking out two American cities while his adoring fans cheer him on,” he continued. “But it’s okay, ‘cause we’re liberals. We deserve to be bombed.”
Kimmel, a Trump nemesis, pointed out that MAGA has nonetheless attempted to defend their leader’s “joke.” Right-wing media and commentators have panned anyone condemning Trump, suggesting that his critics can’t take a joke. A Fox News anchor declared that “the press have been clutching their pearls extra hard over a joke President Trump made.” Another said, “The question on everyone’s mind is why can’t the left take a joke?” Fox’s Will Cain added, “Just when you think the media can’t go any lower, they find a new level in the basement.”
But as Kimmel knows more than anyone, the late-night host himself has frequently drawn the ire of MAGA for his jokes–to the point where Kimmel was pulled off the air for a quip about assassinated right-winger Charlie Kirk.
“Do you remember how oh how upset the Red Hat Club was when I did a joke about Trump and Melania’s May December romance?” Kimmel said, referring to his joke in April about the president and first lady. In the wake of this quip, both Trump and Melania reissued calls for Kimmel to be fired. Meanwhile, Fox News and other right-wing voices echoed this demand, calling Kimmel “shameful,” “deeply unfunny,” and “dark.”
“So if that joke, if that rhetoric was deranged and dangerous and violent and dark, surely you must be mortified by the president of the United States casually ruminating about the deaths of 13 million people,” said Kimmel. But as he played footage of MAGA bending to defend Trump, it became evident that this is not the case.
“Now, the hypocrisy is so glaring, you can’t even turn your head toward it. You will get blind,” laughed Kimmel.
