ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Jordan Klepper tried to rationalize all the anti-Elon Musk vandalism going on throughout the country. Kimmel insisted that arson and vandalism is bad but still portrayed them as what happens when you “celebrate firing thousands of people” and do “one, maybe two Nazi salutes.” Meanwhile, Klepper was less reasonable. Despite also decrying lawlessness, he argued, “The troll king of the internet can't handle the consequences of the real world.”
Kimmel reported, “There have even been incidents of arson. Someone lit a bunch of Teslas on fire. And here's the thing. I get that people are upset. Burning a car might not be great for the environment, I don't think that's what they had in mind when they invented the electric car.”
Introducing a clip of Musk on Hannity, Kimmel continued, “In Las Vegas yesterday, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at a Tesla service center. At least five Teslas blew up. One from the Molotov and four because that's just what Teslas do sometimes and no one should be setting fires. You could kill somebody. You could hurt somebody. Elon Musk might not care about other people, but decent Americans should. The world's richest man-nequin has been trying to drum up sympathy for himself. His sales are down, his stock is down. Last night, he was somber as he went through this with Sean Hannity.”
In the clip, Musk declared, “Tesla's a peaceful company. We've never done anything harmful. I've never done anything harmful. I've only done productive things. So, I think we just have a deranged—it's—there's some kind of mental illness thing going on here, because this doesn't make any sense.”
Of course, it doesn’t. Throwing Molotovs at the El Capitan Entertainment Centre because you disapprove of Kimmel’s political views or insult comedy would not just wrong, but would also make no sense in terms of actually getting him to reconsider his views. Nevertheless, Kimmel tried to explain that it would, “Well, let me see if I can explain it for you. When you pull out a chainsaw to celebrate firing thousands of people, they get mad. It's just, you know—my god. I mean, this—this poor guy. You do one, maybe two Nazi salutes, everybody gets all bent out of shape.”
Over at The Daily Show, Klepper reacted to the same Musk-Hannity clip by insisting that it wasn’t the cars themselves people were mad at, “I don't think people, though, are mad at you because of the Teslas, Elon. If I were to hazard a guess about why they'd be mad, it might be because in the last several weeks, you fired tens of thousands of federal workers, you made cuts to veterans’ care, life-saving foreign aid, and food banks. You canceled important medical research.”
After a clip of MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire, Klepper continued to list reasons why people may not like Musk, "Yeah, people might get a little upset if you stopped their medical trial halfway through them. Imagine you had to stop getting your malaria medication. Or going home with half a butt lift. Imagine it! Imagine it! You'll never buy pants off the rack again! Or here's another guess, maybe people are mad at you because you don't seem to know what the [bleep] you're doing! I’m guessing. I'm guessing. You fired aviation safety staff, then had to hire them back. You fired nuclear safety inspectors, then you had to hire them back. You cut funding for Ebola prevention, and then said, ‘Oopsie.’
After a video of Musk discussing the Ebola mistake, Klepper rolled on, “Let's be honest, Elon knows why people are mad at him. We know he's not as smart as he pretends to be, but he's also not as dumb as he's pretending to be right now. And when he goes on Sean Hannity to complain about why people hate him, he's just proving that the troll king of the internet can't handle the consequences of the real world.”
It’s a free country; people are not obligated to like Elon Musk or DOGE, but if belittling people for opposing political violence is evidence of those people not living in the real world, the country is in deep trouble. Meanwhile, all the vandals are doing more to ruin the lives of dealership employees than they are Musk's.
Here is a transcript for the March 19 shows:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
3/19/2025
11:40 pm et
JIMMY KIMMEL: There have even been incidents of arson. Someone lit a bunch of Teslas on fire. And here's the thing. I get that people are upset. Burning a car might not be great for the environment, I don't think that's what they had in mind when they invented the electric car. In Las Vegas yesterday, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at a Tesla service center. At least five Teslas blew up. One from the Molotov and four because that's just what Teslas do sometimes and no one should be setting fires. You could kill somebody. You could hurt somebody. Elon Musk might not care about other people, but decent Americans should. The world's richest man-nequin has been trying to drum up sympathy for himself. His sales are down, his stock is down. Last night, he was somber as he went through this with Sean Hannity.
ELON MUSK: Tesla's a peaceful company. We've never done anything harmful. I've never done anything harmful. I've only done productive things. So, I think we just have a deranged — it's — there's some kind of mental illness thing going on here, because this doesn't make any sense.
KIMMEL: Well, let me see if I can explain it for you. When you pull out a chainsaw to celebrate firing thousands of people, they get mad. It's just, you know — my god. I mean, this — this poor guy. You do one, maybe two Nazi salutes, everybody gets all bent out of shape.
***
Comedy Central The Daily Show
3/19/2025
11:06 PM ET
JORDAN KLEPPER: I don't think people, though, are mad at you because of the Teslas, Elon. If I were to hazard a guess about why they'd be mad, it might be because in the last several weeks, you fired tens of thousands of federal workers, you made cuts to veterans’ care, life-saving foreign aid, and food banks. You canceled important medical research, sometimes so abruptly that this happened.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Clinical trials funded by USAID, medical experiments have been stopped midstream. [jump cut] People, some people have medical devices still in their bodies because the trials were abruptly stopped.
KLEPPER: Yeah, people might get a little upset if you stopped their medical trial halfway through them. Imagine you had to stop getting your malaria medication. Or going home with half a butt lift. Imagine it! Imagine it! You'll never buy pants off the rack again!
Or here's another guess, maybe people are mad at you because you don't seem to know what the [bleep] you're doing! I’m guessing. I'm guessing. You fired aviation safety staff, then had to hire them back. You fired nuclear safety inspectors, then you had to hire them back. You cut funding for Ebola prevention, and then said, "Oopsie."
ELON MUSK One of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was Ebola, Ebola prevention. I think we all want Ebola prevention.
KLEPPER: Yeah, I think we do! And if someone just accidentally cut it, I think we'd all be pretty mad. I might even banksy some third Reich ejaculate! Look, I could come up with more reasons, but let's be honest, Elon knows why people are mad at him. We know he's not as smart as he pretends to be, but he's also not as dumb as he's pretending to be right now. And when he goes on Sean Hannity to complain about why people hate him, he's just proving that the troll king of the internet can't handle the consequences of the real world.
