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Kimmel Blames Liberal Outrage For Trump’s Return To Office

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Jimmy Kimmel
By Walt Disney Television via Flickr

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel believes a huge factor behind President Donald Trump’s return to the White House was liberal backlash against comedians.

“I think these liberals who’ve done such a good job of viciously attacking comedians are a big part of the reason why Trump is the president right now,” Kimmel said in a Rolling Stone interview published Tuesday.

Known for consistently lampooning Trump on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the titular host said much of today’s outrage over comedy is exaggerated.

“I think a lot of the outrage is completely manufactured, and it’s like, a lot of these people who are angry aren’t really angry,” he said.

“I don’t put limits on what I laugh at. But for me personally, as I’ve grown older, as I’ve matured, I won’t make a joke that I wouldn’t make if a person of that color or persuasion was in the room.”

Kimmel has a firm stance against canceling comedians: “There’s no black and white when it comes to comedy. There is no line. The line is different for every person.”

He cited Dave Chappelle as an example of comedian that can get away with saying “things that somebody else might not be able to,” nothing that he doesn’t believe that “anybody should be canceled.”

He also addressed what he perceives as a disparity in enthusiasm between Democrats and Republicans.

“Say what you want about Trump, we played a clip in rehearsal of Biden’s State of the Union address and Trump’s State of the Union address. The energy in the room, it’s like the difference between golf and wrestling,” Kimmel said.

He believes that charisma and name recognition significantly contributed to Trump’s victory.

“And when people ask me why they think Trump won, I really believe the reason more than anything is he’s so much more famous than [former Vice President] Kamala Harris,” he said.

“He is a celebrity. He is a star. He is the most famous person in the world. And it’s hard to compete with that.”

Reflecting on Trump’s political influence, Kimmel naturally criticized what he sees as ongoing misconduct.

“I think most comedians have a strong sense of justice, and he violates that so frequently,” he said. “I know we should be hardened to it by now, but I’m not. It is shocking to me; it seems like a comic-book villain.”

“He seems like the kind of character that would flame out after a few years, but the fact that he’s still with us is remarkable,” he added.

Kimmel noted a shift in his own approach since the election. “A year ago, I would’ve said I’m hoping to show people who aren’t paying attention to the news what’s actually going on, and hoping to change things that way.”

“Obviously, that didn’t have enough impact before the election, so now I see myself more as a place to scream,” he continued.

Kimmel pointed out what he claims is an intensifying fear of Trump among Republicans.

“I think even more so now than they were the first time around, because he’s so vindictive and there’s no length to which he will not go to punish you,” he said.

Kimmel questioned how Trump’s focus on what he views as trivially contentious issues, like biological men dominating women’s sports, continues to garner so much support from the nation.

“I just don’t understand how Americans can support what he’s doing and the stupid stuff that he gets hung up on, like transgender sports and the stuff that affects almost no one,” he continued.

“I know politicians do this; they pick little things they know are going to push your buttons, and those are the things that they go with, but this is an extreme that we’ve never seen before.”

He claimed that politicians have “no decency,” referring to theme as “disgusting” and “a bunch of animals.”

Despite his strong disapproval for the current administration, Kimmel said he’d be raising a flag up on Fourth of July.

“I’m never going to stop doing that, because I’m never going to let them have that symbol,” he said. “It’s not their flag; it is not a MAGA brand.”

Kimmel also discussed the personal satisfaction he gets from Trump’s reactions to his jokes.

“I think it’s funny. I like when he admits I’m bothering him,” he said. At the Oscars, Kimmel read a post from Trump criticizing his hosting.

“Here at the show, where we put a lot of work into lampooning him, for him to acknowledge our work is one of the few things he does that I appreciate,” Kimmel remarked. “If he ignored us, it wouldn’t be as much fun.”

However, Kimmel has in turn become a target of conservatives, who bring up the raunchy comedic past that conflicts with the ABC host’s carefully curated liberal persona.

Before joining ABC in 2003, Kimmel co-hosted The Man Show on Comedy Central with Adam Carolla, a series saturated with provocative humor.

Among the most criticized moments is a sketch in which Kimmel impersonated NBA star Karl Malone while wearing blackface.

“Yeah, it’s fair game. I think it’s kind of funny, because the very people who are using those videos as an example of why I’m a horrible person were probably the biggest fans of the show at that time,” Kimmel admitted.

“We did the show a little tongue-in-cheek. I mean, if you really watch the show, we are making fun of ourselves through almost the whole show. It was not meant to be taken literally that men are superior to women, but for some people, it was,” he explained.

“It was meant to be Homer Simpsonesque. But you can pull things out of context and then they are taken literally. And that’s just how it goes,” he concluded.

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