Jimmy Kimmel ripped into Vice President JD Vance for defending President Trump’s AI Jesus post.
Trump posted a picture on his Truth Social account on Sunday night depicting himself as Jesus Christ healing a sick man.
The ensuing backlash, even from some of Trump’s biggest defenders, caused the president to delete the post on Monday. When asked by reporters about the image, Trump claimed he had believed the picture portrayed him as a doctor.
Vance chose a different defense for Trump’s post, telling Fox News host Bret Baier that Trump simply meant it as a joke.
“I think the president was posting a joke, and of course he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor in that case,” Vance said.
Kimmel was not impressed by Vance’s explanation. In his monologue Tuesday, the late-night host ripped into Vance for using the “joke” defense despite the Trump administration’s history of attacking late-night comedians.
“He was posting a joke, you understand?" Kimmel said, pronouncing “joke” in an imitation of Vance’s voice.
Kimmel continued, “And like all the best jokes, it had to be explained and then deleted. First he was Jesus, then he wasn’t Jesus, he was a doctor, and now it was a joke.“
Kimmel asked suddenly, “Why did I get kicked off the air again? I can’t remember.”
Kimmel’s show was suspended in September for his commentary on the assassination of right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk.
The morning after Kimmel’s monologue, the Trump-appointed FCC chairman Brendan Carr appeared to publicly pressure ABC into pulling Kimmel’s show indefinitely. Mass public outcry led to ABC bringing Jimmy Kimmel Live! back on air by Tuesday the following week.
The Trump administration and MAGA pundits have since repeatedly pushed for Kimmel to be taken off air again for his political commentary. In March, Newsmax host Rob Schmitt was angered by Kimmel’s mockery of Trump’s SAVE act, and urged the FCC to “regulate” his show.
Newsmax’s regular outrage over Kimmel’s material is a stark contrast to its coverage of Trump’s blasphemous AI Jesus post and his insults towards Pope Leo XIV.
Newsmax host Greg Kelly downplayed a series of Trump’s Truth Social posts insulting the Pope on Monday. Trump called the Pope “weak on crime” and claimed to like the Pope’s MAGA-supporting brother “much better.”
Kelly interpreted Trump’s social media tirade as the president’s “way of signaling it’s all gonna be OK.”
“That’s his signal?" Kimmel said to Kelly. “It’s all gonna be OK?”
Kimmel joked about Trump, “I mean, what’s the signal for distress, he strangles Elmo to death?”
