Resurfaced clips of Jimmy Kimmel joking about vandalism at Tesla dealerships and replays of his past attacks on the unvaccinated have exploded across conservative feeds just as the host fights to save his career after ABC pulled him amid outrage over his comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk. The timing is not an accident — once you start looking at the tape, a pattern of callousness and performative cruelty shows through that the networks have long been happy to bankroll.
The footage from earlier this year shows Kimmel deadpanning about recent arson and vandalism against Tesla, letting the live audience cheer as he quipped that people had been “vandalizing Tesla vehicles” before the mock admonition, “Please don’t vandalize — don’t ever vandalize Tesla vehicles.” The clip drew predictable outrage online, with even Elon Musk calling Kimmel “an unfunny jerk” as conservatives blasted the late-night host for joking about violence.
This is not new behavior. In September 2021 Kimmel infamously suggested hospitals should prioritize vaccinated patients while saying, by implication, to the unvaccinated: “Rest in peace.” That line was played back repeatedly by critics who argued then — as now — that elite entertainers have adopted a cruelty toward millions of Americans with different views.
Conservative commentators and independent voices like Dave Rubin have been quick to amplify these resurfaced clips, arguing that the left’s media class routinely normalizes violence and dehumanizes dissenting Americans while demanding virtue from everyone else. The viral spread of these clips on platforms outside the corporate gatekeepers is a reminder that when the mainstream protects its own, the truth still finds a way into public view.
Make no mistake, this is about more than bad jokes; it’s about a cultural elite that applauds the destruction of property and shrugs at the idea of denying care to people because of political or medical choices. That attitude is corrosive to the civic trust and the rule of law, and it explains why ordinary Americans feel increasingly alienated from institutions that used to mirror basic decency and restraint.
ABC executives who greenlit this act of mass empathy-for-themselves deserve answers, and local affiliates that pre-empted the show were right to send a message that normalizing cruelty has consequences. If networks want to pose as guardians of decency, they must stop making millionaires out of hosts who treat violence like a punchline and callousness like comedy.
Hardworking Americans should demand better from the people who shape our culture. We can defend free speech without celebrating the degradation of our fellow citizens or encouraging lawlessness, and it’s time the media stopped pretending there’s no difference between satire and incitement. The clips make the choice clear: which side are you on, the side of ordinary Americans or the side of the elites who sneer at them?
