Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night called out right-wing TV host Rob Schmitt of Newsmax for trying to get him canned for speaking out against President Donald Trump’s so-called SAVE America Act.
Republicans call the bill a voter ID law, but critics say it goes much further and will make it harder for eligible U.S. citizens to cast legal ballots.
Kimmel called it something else: a Trump plot to steal the midterms.
“This is his attempt to fix the midterm election and save his own ass,” Kimmel said. “I brought this up during the monologue the other night, and I guess this didn’t sit too well with one of the Schmitt heads on Newsmax, who would like to report me to the authorities.”
Kimmel played a clip of Schmitt demanding that the Federal Communications Commission take action against Kimmel for speaking out. Schmitt also accused ABC of breaking the law “every single night” by allowing Kimmel on the air.
“That is not a comedy show,” Schmitt said. “That is propaganda.”
“I think of it as a little of both,” Kimmel snarked in response, then tore into Schmitt.
“They’re such tattletales,” Kimmel said. “They’re so worried about cancel culture until I come on and then they’re like, ‘Call the FCC! He’s breaking the law!’ How does this not embarrass them?”
He pointed out that Newsmax agreed to pay $67 million to settle a defamation lawsuit “for spreading Trump’s election lies” in 2020.
“But we’re propaganda?” he said in disbelief. “Newsmax is to the Trump administration what the Fearless Flyer is to Trader Joe’s.”
That’s the in-house newsletter that promotes the speciality supermarket’s products.
“Can you tell I’ve had enough of this?” Kimmel asked.
See more in his Wednesday night monologue:
