ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel criticized Vice President J.D. Vance on Tuesday night for suggesting that the infamous photo of President Trump showing him as a Jesus-like figure was actually a misunderstood joke. Kimmel likened these comments to his comment last year.
Trump posted and then removed the photo over the weekend, eventually telling reporters that he believed the photo was of him as a doctor treating a sick person.
“Even J.D. Vance wasn’t able to keep up with this Doctor’s story. He came up with a completely different interpretation,” Kimmel said in his monologue, before playing a clip of Vance in the Fox News special.
“Well, first off, Brett, I think the president was posting a joke. And of course, he took it down because he realized that a lot of people didn’t get his sense of humor,” Vance said in the clip.
“He was making a joke, you understand, and like all the best jokes, it had to be explained and then deleted,” Kimmel quipped. “First it was Jesus, then it was a doctor, and now it’s a joke. Why was I taken off the air again? I can’t remember.”
Kimmel was, of course, referring to his suspension from ABC last year, due to unfortunate comments he made in his speech after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which many took to suggest that the suspect in Kirk’s shooting was a MAGA Republican.
“We’ve reached new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to paint this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of their own and doing everything they can to score political points out of him,” Kimmel said in the monologue.
Kimmel returned to the show a week or so later and delivered an emotional 18-minute monologue addressing the situation, the reaction, and his original comments.
“I’ve heard a lot about what I have to say and do tonight. I don’t think it’s going to make much difference — whether you like me or not. I’m not going to change anyone’s mind,” Kimmel said. “But I want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human being that you understand that it was never my intention to trivialize the killing of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. … And it was never my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of someone who was clearly very disturbed. This was actually the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that to some it seemed bad or unclear or perhaps both. For those who think I pointed the finger, I know why you would be upset, if the situation were reversed, There’s a good chance I feel the same way.
You can see Tuesday night’s monologue below.
