Jimmy Kimmel mocked the rampant claims promoted by Donald Trump and allied media outlets that the protests in Los Angeles have turned the city into a war zone. (That is not the case.)
The ABC host joked during his monologue on Tuesday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that L.A. has more upheaval “when one of our teams wins a championship.” (Which is kinda true.)
Kimmel started his monologue by noting he had a full audience in the show’s Hollywood studio, “Which might be surprising for those of you in other parts of the country, who’ve been watching cable news, and believe this city is some kind of totalitarian hellscape right now. It most certainly is not. In fact, let’s take a look outside, because I want you to see what it’s like in Hollywood right now, because you won’t see this elsewhere on television.”
At this, Kimmel showed the audience scenes from L.A. at that moment, noting, “Not only is it not an apocalypse, they’re having a Disney/Pixar movie premiere right now. For a movie about aliens. Don’t tell Trump. He’ll send the Green Berets in, too.”
Kimmel continued, with obvious sarcasm: “I just want to say thank God for President Trump, and the heroes at ICE, for protecting us from these bloodthirsty fruit stand vendors. Spreading their dangerous pineapple chunks and mangos with a squirt of lime all over the city. We are so grateful for what you have done.”
Then Kimmel dropped the jokes for a second and admitted, “I’m very angry. I have to say, I cannot believe what’s going on. I knew it was gonna be bad. I did not know it was gonna be this bad.”
Kimmel then explained why people are protesting. “The people who’ve lived here their whole lives, people who’ve been in this city longer than I have, the vast majority of whom have never done anything wrong, are being abducted — which is the correct word to use,” Kimmel said, referencing ICE tactics.
Kimmel, with full accuracy, noted that ICE agents wear masks, “hiding their identities, grabbing people off the street, and at work, sending people to detention centers. And to protest that, which is not only our right as Americans, it’s our responsibility, Los Angelenos have been gathering to demonstrate, and with very few exceptions, peacefully demonstrate, to voice their opposition to this disgusting and unnecessary abuse of power instigated by our mentally ill president who is dead set on exacerbating this, who actually wants conflict … who is intentionally inflaming — and lying — to make it seem like there’s a war going on here. He wants there to be a war going on here. And he doesn’t care who gets hurt in it.”
Kimmel later turned to the apparent hypocrisy of Trump turning his attention to L.A. now when he “did absolutely nothing” during the January wildfires.
“You know, when we had the wildfires that devastated big chunks of our city, he did absolutely nothing. Now that we’re in the middle of a non-emergency, send in the National Guard,” Kimmel quipped.
Watch the whole monologue below:
