LA-based Jimmy Kimmel claims 'there's no riot outside' as he blasts 'mentally ill' Trump
Los Angeles-based comedian Jimmy Kimmel told his audience on Tuesday that "there's no riots outside" and slammed "mentally ill" President Donald Trump for deploying troops to quell what he claims is exaggerated unrest in the city.
Trump sent over 700 Marines to Los Angeles in an effort to quash anti-ICE protests that have ravaged parts of the city on Tuesday. Images from L.A. showcase masked protesters blocking roads, destroying vehicles and engaging with police, while Mayor Karen Bass issued a curfew for a portion of the city's downtown area.
Kimmel mocked the media for portraying the anti-ICE protests as "some kind of totalitarian hellscape" and condemned the Trump administration for deporting "people who have lived here their whole lives."
"You won't see this elsewhere on television. Not only is it not an apocalypse, they're having a Disney/Pixar movie premiere for 'Elio,' a movie about aliens. Don't tell Trump — he'll send in the Green Berets, too," Kimmel ribbed. "But I just want to say, thank God for President Trump and the heroes at ICE for protecting us from these bloodthirsty fruit stand vendors spreading their dangerous pineapple chunks and mangos with a squirt of lime all over the city."
The late-night host vented his anger towards the ICE raids in the city, claiming that the "vast majority" of those being deported have "never done anything wrong."
"People who have lived here their whole lives, people who have been in this city longer than I have, the vast majority of whom have never done anything wrong, are being abducted, which is the correct word to use, by agents in masks, hiding their identities, grabbing people off the street and at work, sending people to detention centers," he claimed.
Kimmel asserted that it's not only Los Angelenos' right to protest the deportations, but it's their "responsibility."
"Los Angelenos gathered to demonstrate and, with very few exceptions, peacefully demonstrate to voice their opposition to this disgusting and unnecessary abuse of power instigated by our mentally ill president, who is dead-set on exacerbating this, who actually wants conflict, who is intentionally inflaming and lying to make it seem like there's a war going on," he charged.
Kimmel continued his criticism of the president and claimed that "he wants there to be a war going on" in L.A. and doesn't care who gets hurt in the process.
"There's no riot outside," Kimmel declared. "We have more so-called 'unrest' here when one of our teams wins a championship."
The host maintained that the media is exaggerating the violence taking place at the anti-ICE protests and argued that Trump exacerbated the unrest by sending in troops.
"Someone sets a fire in a garbage can, 12 camera crews go running toward it," he asserted. "Trump wants it to seem like anarchy, so he goes around our governor and calls in 4,000 troops from the National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines. When we had the wildfires that devastated big chunks of our city, he did absolutely nothing. Now that we're in the middle of a non-emergency, send in the National Guard!"
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