Screenshot via Axios
Jimmy Kimmel was accused of and suspended for the very thing prominent conservative voices did when a Minnesota Democrat was shot and killed back in June.
ABC on Wednesday announced the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and its titular host following comments Kimmel about the killing of Charlie Kirk. On a recent episode of the show, Kimmel accused MAGA figures of trying to characterize Kirk’s killer as “anything other than one of them.” He also accused them of “doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kimmel’s comments were met with immediate backlash from the right and even resulted in the FCC threatening ABC. Apparently feeling the pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration, ABC decided to take Kimmel and his show off the air for the foreseeable future. At the time of writing, it was unknown if or when he would return.
As many have pointed out in the immediate aftermath of Kimmel’s suspension, MAGA supporters have done the same thing they’ve accused Kimmel of doing. In June, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in their home by a man pretending to be a police officer. The same man also shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, but they survived the attack.
The suspected gunman was later identified as Vance Luther Boelter. Those who knew him claimed he was a conservative and a supporter of Trump.
Boelter previously worked on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in Minnesota. In 2019, Gov. Tim Walz reappointed him to the nonpartisan board, leading the right to claim Boelter was a fellow Democrat.
As noted by a June 17 report from Axios, countless MAGA figures pushed the theory:
According to court filings, Boelter allegedly drew up lists of Minnesota public officials who were “mostly or all Democrats” and their addresses.
Despite that, Donald Trump Jr. told NewsNation the suspect “seems to be a leftist” and is “a Democrat.”
The report included a quote from billionaire Elon Musk, who accused the left of being “murderously violent” despite the shooter likely being of the right. It also referenced Trump ally Laura Loomer, who called for Walz to be “detained by the FBI and interrogated.” Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson was quoted saying Boelter was a “Tim Walz” associate.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) famously came under fire for a series of unhinged tweets mocking Walz for the shooting. In one of them, Lee included a photo of the suspect and said, “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.” In another, Lee wrote, “Nightmare on Walz Street” — a reference to the 1984 film A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Lee later deleted the tweets after being confronted about it by a fellow member of Congress. He was also grilled by a reporter over the tweets, but simply walked away without saying a word.
The post Kimmel Suspended for Calling Kirk Shooter MAGA — Don Jr. Did Same Thing With Minnesota Shootings first appeared on Mediaite.
