A week’s vacation from his “comedy” show didn’t make Jimmy Kimmel any funnier, less bitter, or more likeable. In fact, the late-night host returned to Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday — on fewer ABC local affiliate stations — sounding more partisan and petulant than ever.
Kimmel offered no apology for the lies he told about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, comments that earned him an “indefinite,” short-lived suspension from his corporate bosses. The poster-child for Trump Derangement Syndrome thumbed his nose at the president and shook his fist at Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr for hinting that Kimmel’s comments violated long-standing broadcast laws.
Kimmel, whose self-delusion is almost as powerful as his self-importance, spent much of his time back on the air performing the role of free-speech warrior, bent but not broken. It was bad acting, bad theater and bad taste, particularly for those who just paid their last respects to a real freedom fighter who was murdered for his commitment to free speech and his faith.
In short, Kimmel again is the punchline to a bad joke.
“This show is not important: What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this,” he puffed. His main sponsor for the evening should have been Pepto-Bismol. Kimmel’s schtick was not for the weak of stomach.
He bragged about the uptick in viewers he expected in his triumphant return, mocking Trump for saying Kimmel had no ratings.
“Well, I do tonight,” Kimmel said to raucous applause from his band of liberal audience members, who come for the Trump hate and stay for the leftist echo chamber.
While Kimmel’s defenders — including California Gov. Gavin Newsom — saw Kimmel’s temporary layoff as an attack on the First Amendment, a lot of noncelebrity Americans did not.
Off With Their Jobs
A new poll by RMG Research and the Napolitan News Service found a majority of respondents (51%) believe it’s appropriate for private businesses to fire people who jump online and revel in the assassination of Kirk. While Kimmel insisted Tuesday that he wasn’t celebrating the 31-year-old conservative icon’s murder, he falsely claimed Kirk’s accused killer was part of the “MAGA gang.”
The poll of 1,000 registered voters found just 35 percent of respondents say it is not appropriate for private employers to sack death revelers. Perhaps not surprising, just 27 percent of Democrats agree that employers have a right to fire workers who engage in such loathsome acts, while 80 percent of Republicans say the firings are appropriate.
Leftists from a variety of industries have posted some truly vile things following Kirk’s assassination two weeks ago at a college event in Utah. Many have been shown the door. The terminated include Matthew Dowd. MSNBC’s resident justifier of leftist political assassins suggested Kirk may have invited the bullet through his “divisive” rhetoric. Dowd later complained that MSNBC’s hosts cared more about Kimmel’s suspension than his firing.
The poll found 59 percent of registered voters surveyed think reporters and public officials should be fired for celebrating an assassination.
A poll earlier this month conducted by RMG Research and the Napolitan News Service found a shocking 15 percent of registered voters believe America is better off after Kirk’s murder. A similar poll last year showed 17 percent of respondents said it would have been better if President Donald Trump had been killed by his attempted assassin.
Trump had some thoughts on Kimmel’s return.
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there,” Trump posted on X. “Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”