Jimmy Kimmel urges Republicans not to vote for Donald Trump

One week after Election Day, Jimmy Kimmel made an earnest plea to moderate Republicans Tuesday night to reconsider casting a ballot for Donald Trump, using the former president's words to make the case 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 funny “words” that have come out of his mouth over the past nine years. He urged viewers to evaluate the 2024 presidential contest as being about “sanity, security and democracy.”

“Here's the thing. It's kind of funny — these ridiculous, random rants — and it would be nice — if he was hosting a podcast, or selling knives at the farmer's market. But he's supposed to lead us. People are listening to him. And the country is getting crazier,” Kimmel said. “Because it makes it okay to be crazy.”

“Remember all those people who were in Dallas waiting for JFK Jr. and his father to come back to life — and then he'll be serving as Trump's running mate in '24,” Kimmel said, citing the bizarre conspiracy theory that has spread around it. Trump. “Donald Trump is the exact meeting point between QAnon and QVC.”

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

“For those of you who never watch — I'm Jimmy Kimmel. You might remember me from The Man Show,” he said. “We had — we had a good relationship at the time. Beer and trampoline…good times, right? “We had fun.”

Kimmel pointed the finger at himself when addressing the bitterness of the country's current political and cultural divisions.

“But now – times are less fun. We're a week away from the election, and we're very divided. And not just because of Donald Trump, but because of people like me – if I'm being honest -.” “I do a lot of mocking and belittling… and that's not Always fruitful. Am I biased against Donald Trump? Yes. Do I think I have good reasons to be biased against him? Yes. And I may be wrong – but I think when you hear some of these reasons, you might agree with me – even just a little.

Kimmel listed several former Trump allies and Cabinet members who have abandoned him in the strongest terms. He pointed to the Trump campaign rally Sunday night 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 suggest you watch that rally he organized at Madison Square Garden — or listen to his three-hour interview with Joe Rogan. Because most elections are about politics. This is not. This is about rationality. And security,” he said. Kimmel: “And democracy.”

“You know, I saw a T-shirt the other day that said, ‘I support Trump because he pisses off people who piss me off. This is funny. I understand that. Sometimes it feels like no one has a sense of humor anymore. But is this really all we want for America? Do we make each other angry? I don't want that.

The monologue concluded with Kimmel bringing out his old friend Guillermo Rodriguez to back up his points that Trump's extreme immigration agenda is anti-American.

“This is Guillermo. He's an immigrant, he's become an American citizen. This is a toast — to our fellow Americans,” Kimmel said as he raised two large beers.