Jimmy Kimmel says it’s up to him and his late-night peers to serve as America’s moral compass because “nobody is doing anything” about mass shootings.
ABC’s host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” told the Television Critics Association’s press tour on Monday that comedians are fulfilling their cultural duty by covering serious political issues.
The liberal celebrity made the comments in Beverly Hills in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend.
“[Trump] handles everything beautifully,” the liberal celebrity deadpanned, Entertainment Weekly reported Monday. “As you know it’s horrible and there’s an expectation that late-night talk shows will address these horrible things and I wish we didn’t have to but nobody is doing anything about it at all and we seem to forget about these tragedies four days after they happen. My hope always in situations that I know I don’t have any thoughts that are new or groundbreaking … but to just remind people that 97 percent of Americans believe we should have background checks for purchases at gun shows and our politicians don’t seem to care about what we think anymore.”
Mr. Kimmel then said that he was at a loss for how else to create content in the current political landscape.
“I just don’t know what alternative there is,” he said. “You watch the news all day and see what’s going on, how do you walk on stage and ignore it? I wish I could. It’s hard to talk about serious subjects. … I wish we didn’t have to do it so frequently.”
Twenty-two people were killed Saturday during an attack at an El Paso Walmart before Patrick Crusius, 21, was arrested and booked on capital murder charges.
Police in Dayton shot and killed 24-year-old gunman Connor Betts on Sunday after nine victims were killed.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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