Jimmy Kimmel Rips Into Trump Over LA Protests & His ‘Disgusting Abuse of Power’

Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night on Tuesday (June 10) after a long weekend and wasted no time in slamming President Donald Trump for his actions over the ongoing protests in Los Angeles.

The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host welcomed viewers to the show, noting how they had a packed house, “which might come as a surprise to those who have been watching cable news and believe this city is some kind of totalitarian hellscape right now.”

He then showed live footage of outside in Hollywood, which appeared to be business as usual. “Not only is it not an apocalypse, they’re having a Disney/Pixar movie premiere right now. For Elio… a movie about aliens,” he continued. “Don’t tell Trump. He’ll send the Green Berets in too.”

Kimmel was addressing the protests taking place in LA against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and how Trump had deployed the National Guard in response.

“I just want to say thank God for President Trump. And the heroes at ICE,” Kimmel sarcastically said, “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. We are so grateful for what you have done.”

Kimmel then took a more serious turn, saying, “I’m very angry. I have to say, I cannot believe what’s going on. I knew it was gonna be bad. I did not know it was gonna be this bad… People who’ve lived here their whole lives, people who’ve 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.”

He explained how ICE agents wear masks to hide their identities, “grabbing people off the street, and at work, sending people to detention centers. And to protest that, which is not only our right as Americans, it’s our responsibility, Los Angelenos have been gathering 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.”

Kimmel claimed Trump “wants conflict” and is “intentionally inflaming and lying to make it seem like there’s a war going on here. He wants there to be a war going on here. And he doesn’t care who gets hurt in it.”

The comedian noted how there is more “so-called ‘unrest'” in the city “when one of our teams wins a championship.”

“But that’s not what you’re seeing on TV,” he continued. “Someone sets a fire in a garbage can, 12 camera crews go running toward it. Trump wants it to seem like anarchy, so he goes around our Governor, and he calls in 4,000 troops from the National Guard and 700 active duty Marines.”

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“You know, 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,” Kimmel added, noting how Trump always wants to make it seem like he’s saving Los Angeles, including taking credit for putting out the wildfires.

“He so desperately wants to be the hero putting out fires,” Kimmel said. “He’s starting fires. Putting out a fire you purposely start doesn’t make you a firefighter. It makes you an arsonist with a hose.”

You can watch Kimmel’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.