For the late night comedians, last year’s news that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s wife flew an upside-down flag on their private property to protest their neighbors’ unneighborly behavior was simply too much for them to handle. However, for ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, fired Yosemite National Park locksmith Nate Vince doing that on public property to protest President Donald Trump and DOGE was enough to get him hired for Wednesday night to put a lock on sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez’s mini bar.
Kimmel declared, “You've been actively protesting these firings of yourself and your co-workers.”
After Vince affirmed he has been, Kimmel continued, “You are the guy who hung this, did you see this in the news, that flag hung upside down, a distress signal. Nate, you hung that flag.”
Amid wild cheering from the audience, Vince clarified, “A group of us, yeah.”
Kimmel proceeded, “A group of you. You guys have been protesting, you're organizing protests. What we wanted to do, there's only so much we can do. We want to give you a little job so you can make a little bit of money during this time. What I would love you to do, if you would be so kind, is, we've not had a locksmith on staff at our show. We would like you to put a lock on the mini bar in Guillermo's dressing room because. We're worried he may be drinking too much.”
While Kimmel is worried about that, other people might be worried that public employees flying upside-down flags means the civil service isn’t as non-partisan as its defenders like to claim it is.
Here is a transcript for the March 5 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
3/5/2025
11:50 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: You've been actively protesting these firings of yourself and your co-workers.
NATE VINCE: Yeah.
KIMMEL: You are the guy who hung this, did you see this in the news, that flag hung upside down, a distress signal. Nate, you hung that flag.
VINCE: A group of us, yeah.
KIMMEL: A group of you. You guys have been protesting, you're organizing protests. What we wanted to do, there's only so much we can do. We want to give you a little job so you can make a little bit of money during this time.
VINCE: Okay.
KIMMEL: What I would love you to do, if you would be so kind, is, we've not had a locksmith on staff at our show. We would like you to put a lock on the mini bar in Guillermo's dressing room because--
VINCE: Sure.
KIMMEL: -- we're worried he may be drinking too much. Guillermo, would you mind showing Nate to your dressing room?
GUILLERMO RODRIGUEZ: Okay, come on, let’s go.
KIMMEL: Yes, show Nate to your dressing room. Thank you, Nate.
VINCE: Thanks.
KIMMEL: That's Nate Vince. We're going to check back on them in a minute.
