'The Hypocrisy Is So Glaring': Jimmy Kimmel Blasts MAGA Defense of Donald Trump's Los Angeles and San Diego Remark

Jimmy Kimmel was not laughing when President Donald Trump suggested Iran could attack Los Angeles and San Diego, but the meaning of the president’s remark quickly became another partisan dispute over who can take a joke.

During his October 6 Jimmy Kimmel Live! monologue, the ABC host condemned Trump’s comments and the rallygoers who cheered them. Conservative commentators subsequently argued that critics were intentionally treating a joke as a serious proposal.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Nebraska, Trump discussed the sacrifices Americans were making during the conflict with Iran, including rising fuel prices.

After calling those costs a small price for keeping the country and world safe, Trump added, “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”

Kimmel, who lives in Los Angeles, called the comments “truly appalling.”

The host acknowledged that Trump regularly makes provocative statements but described this one as “one of the craziest, most indefensible statements” of his presidency.

“Openly musing about Iran, a country we are currently at war with, taking out two American cities while his adoring fans cheer him,” Kimmel commented, noting the 13 million people who live in them.

Right-wing media personalities accused Trump’s critics of overreacting and framed the president’s remarks as an obvious joke.

Kimmel contrasted that defense with the outrage directed at his own comedy. He recalled the backlash to a joke about Trump and first lady Melania Trump’s age gap, after which the couple called for him to be fired and conservative commentators characterized his rhetoric as “dangerous.”

“The hypocrisy is so glaring, you can’t even turn your head toward it. You will get blind,” Kimmel joked.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman rejected Kimmel’s interpretation, arguing that Trump was being sarcastic and that the host knowingly presented the remark as something more sinister.

“Jimmy Kimmel, who rose from Mild to Moderate (and is inching towards Severe) on my list of people with Trump Derangement Syndrome, delighted in misinterpreting what President Trump said about Iran,” she said.

Lieberman actually appeared in a Newsmax clip included in a montage Kimmel used to illustrate reactions in the media.

“Kimmel claimed that Trump was urging Iran on to nuke Los Angeles and San Diego, failing — on purpose — to see that Trump was being sarcastic,” she continued. “This didn't matter to Kimmel because he knew his loyal audience would laugh — and they did.”