Jimmy Kimmel bid an official farewell to the COVID National Emergency on Tuesday night, admitting it was bittersweet because the pandemic taught him a lot. For example, it taught the late night host that the people who are “most resistant” to government mandates are the people who actually need it the most.
To kick off the monologue on his namesake ABC show, Kimmel noted that it was “the dawn of a new era” now that President Biden has officially declared the COVID national emergency to be over. “He did do it about a year after the rest of us did, but…” Kimmel joked.
That said, the host argued that there were some good times during the pandemic, and a whole lot of learning moments for everybody.
“I have to say, I learned a lot during the pandemic. I learned that the people who are most resistant to the government telling them what to do also happen to be the people who most need the government to tell them what to do,” he said. “And, ironically, are the same people who are most supportive of the government telling other people what to do.”
But most importantly, Kimmel said, everyone now has enough toilet paper “to last our entire lives.”
From there, Kimmel launched into an “In Memoriam” segment for some of the “good times” of COVID, mourning the end of things like sourdough bread making, drive-by birthday celebrations and seeing the inside of news anchors’ homes.
You can watch the full segment from “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in the video above.
