ABC’s Los Angeles-based Jimmy Kimmel got his first chance to respond to the riots in his city and President Trump’s response to them on his Tuesday show. Kimmel insisted that there is nothing to see and any violence is the “mentally ill” Trump’s fault because he “wants there to be a war” and desires to create “protest porn” for Fox News.
Kimmel sarcastically began, “I just want to say thank god for President Trump and the heroes at ICE for protecting us from these bloodthirsty fruit stand vendors spreading their dangerous pineapple chunks and mangos with a squirt of lime all over the city. We are so grateful for what you have done.”
Turning serious, Kimmel denounced the idea that immigration law might be enforced, “I'm very angry, I have to say. I cannot believe what's going on. I knew it was going to be bad. I did not know it was going to be this bad. People who have lived here their whole lives, people who have been in this city longer than I have, the vast majority of whom have never done anything wrong, are being abducted, which is the correct word to use, by agents in masks, hiding their identities, grabbing people off the street and at work. Sending people to detention centers.”
Kimmel continued:
And to protest that, which is not only our right as Americans, it's our responsibility. Los Angelenos have been gathering to demonstrate and, with very few exceptions, peacefully demonstrate to voice their opposition to this disgusting and unnecessary abuse of power instigated by our mentally ill president, who is dead set on exacerbating this. Who actually wants conflict. Who is intentionally inflaming and lying to make it seem like there's a war going on. He wants there to be a war going on here. And he doesn't care who gets hurt in it. There's no riot outside. We have more so-called "unrest" here when one of our teams wins a championship. But that's not what you're seeing on TV. Someone sets a fire in a garbage can, 12 camera crews go running toward it.
Later, Kimmel continued to declare that everything is Trump’s fault, “Donald Trump created this problem. He is putting the police and the military in danger. He is the one deporting children and their parents without any process. He's the one who has ICE agents outside immigration offices, arresting the people who showed up to do the right thing and check in with the immigration office. This is not a problem we had. This is a problem he made. And is intentionally doing everything he can to make it worse. He is purposefully pitting Americans against each other to create protest porn for Fox News because that's what excites him. He knows that the good people are going to stand up for their neighbors, and he's exploiting that.”
He then appealed to the National Guard to find ways to defy Trump, “And to those of you in the National Guard who have been thrust into this—when Donald Trump orders you to do something you know is immoral, try to get your dad's podiatrist to write a note to say you have bone spurs. That resonates with him.”
Ultimately, Kimmel suggested the whole thing was a way for Trump to distract people from his feud with Elon Musk and the suggestion he is in the Epstein Files, “So, what did he do? He manufactured a crisis. He got back to what got him here in the first place. Good old xenophobia. I don't know what happened to the state's rights he thinks so much of when it suits him, but I know I speak for a lot of us here when I say leave us alone here. We don't need you. We don't need your help. We didn't ask for your help. We don't want your help. I thought the idea was to make America great. This is not great. Try to act like a president for once.”
Of course, there is no right for a state to claim immigration law has no effect within its borders.
Here is a transcript for the June 10 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live
6/10/2025
11:35 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: I just want to say thank god for President Trump and the heroes at ICE for protecting us from these bloodthirsty fruit stand vendors spreading their dangerous pineapple chunks and mangos with a squirt of lime all over the city. We are so grateful for what you have done.
I'm very angry, I have to say. I cannot believe what's going on. I knew it was going to be bad. I did not know it was going to be this bad. People who have lived here their whole lives, people who have been in this city longer than I have, the vast majority of whom have never done anything wrong, are being abducted, which is the correct word to use, by agents in masks, hiding their identities, grabbing people off the street and at work. Sending people to detention centers.
And to protest that, which is not only our right as Americans, it's our responsibility. Los Angelenos have been gathering to demonstrate and, with very few exceptions, peacefully demonstrate to voice their opposition to this disgusting and unnecessary abuse of power instigated by our mentally ill president, who is dead set on exacerbating this.
Who actually wants conflict. Who is intentionally inflaming and lying to make it seem like there's a war going on. He wants there to be a war going on here. And he doesn't care who gets hurt in it. There's no riot outside. We have more so-called "unrest" here when one of our teams wins a championship. But that's not what you're seeing on TV. Someone sets a fire in a garbage can, 12 camera crews go running toward it. Trump wants it to seem like anarchy, so he goes around our governor and calls in 4,000 troops from the National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines. You know, when we had the wildfires that devastated big chunks of our city, he did absolutely nothing. Now that we’re in the middle of a non-emergency, send in the National Guard.
…
Donald Trump created this problem. He is putting the police and the military in danger. He is the one deporting children and their parents without any process. He's the one who has ICE agents outside immigration offices, arresting the people who showed up to do the right thing and check in with the immigration office. This is not a problem we had. This is a problem he made. And is intentionally doing everything he can to make it worse. He is purposefully pitting Americans against each other to create protest porn for Fox News because that's what excites him. He knows that the good people are going to stand up for their neighbors, and he's exploiting that. And to those of you in the National Guard who have been thrust into this — when Donald Trump orders you to do something you know is immoral, try to get your dad's podiatrist to write a note to say you have bone spurs. That resonates with him.
…
So, what did he do? He manufactured a crisis. He got back to what got him here in the first place. Good old xenophobia. I don't know what happened to the state's rights he thinks so much of when it suits him, but I know I speak for a lot of us here when I say leave us alone here. We don't need you. We don't need your help. We didn't ask for your help. We don't want your help. I thought the idea was to make America great. This is not great. Try to act like a president for once.
