Jimmy Kimmel urges Republicans not to vote for Donald Trump

A week after Election Day, Jimmy Kimmel offered a heartfelt plea to moderate Republicans Tuesday night to reconsider voting for Donald Trump, using the former president’s words to argue against his return to the White House.

The host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” devoted his opening monologue to revisiting a series of bizarre and ridiculous “words that came out of his mouth” over the past nine years. He urged viewers to weigh the 2024 presidential contest as being about “sanity and security and democracy.”

“Here’s the thing. It’s kind of funny — these silly, random rants from him — and it would be fine — if he hosted a podcast or sold knives at the Farmers Market. But he’s got to lead us. People listen to him. And the country gets crazier. Because he makes it OK to be crazy,” Kimmel said.

“Remember all the people who were in Dallas waiting for JFK Jr. and his father to come back to life — and then he would serve as Trump’s running mate in ’24,” Kimmel said, citing only one bizarre conspiracy theory that has swirled around. Trump. “Donald Trump is the exact meeting place between QAnon and QVC.”

Kimmel made a point of asking viewers to ask a Republican’s friends and family members to watch his monologue as a personal favor to them. He introduced himself with a nod to “The Man Show,” the silly and sophomoric unscripted comedy series he co-hosted with Adam Carolla for Comedy Central from 1999 to 2004.

“For those of you who never watch — I’m Jimmy Kimmel. Maybe you remember me from ‘The Man Show,'” he said. “We had — we had a pretty good relationship back then. The beer, the trampolines…good times, right? We had fun.”

Kimmel pointed the finger at himself as he addressed the bitterness of the nation’s political and cultural divide at the moment.

“But now — times are less fun. We’re a week from an election and we’re very divided. And not just because of Donald Trump — because of people like — to be honest — me,” he said. “I do a lot of mockery and belittling … and it’s not always productive. Am I biased towards Donald Trump? Yes. Do I think I have good reasons to be biased against him? Yes. And I’m probably wrong—but I think when you hear some of these reasons, you might—you might agree with me—even just a little bit.”

Kimmel listed the many former Trump allies and cabinet members who have rejected him in the strongest terms. He was referring to the Trump campaign’s Sunday night rally at Madison Square Garden, where speaker Tony Hinchcliffe hurled racial slurs and ignited a firestorm among Puerto Rican voters.

“But if you need more – I’d suggest you watch the rally he had at Madison Square Garden – or listen to all three hours of his interview with Joe Rogan. Because most elections are about politics. It’s this no. This is about sanity. And democracy,” Kimmel said.

“You know, I saw a shirt the other day that said, “I support Trump because he pisses off the people who piss me off. And it’s fun. And I get it. Sometimes it feels like nobody has a sense of humor anymore. But is that really all we want for America? Is it to irritate each other? I don’t want that.”

The monologue ended with Kimmel bringing out longtime sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez to underscore his point that Trump’s radical immigration agenda is anti-American.

“This is Guillermo. He’s an immigrant — he became an American citizen. And this is a toast — to our fellow Americans,” Kimmel said as the two raised large mugs of beer.