As Elon Musk starts to contemplate wrapping up DOGE’s mission to identify wasteful spending in the federal government and return to Tesla on a more full-time basis, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel had a suggestion. On Tuesday, he brought back an old STD bit and suggested to Musk that he sell the company to “someone more likeable, like chlamydia or AIDS.”
Kimmel began, “And then we have Mr. Congeniality, Elon Musk, who has been lying low as of late and reportedly wants to get out of DOGE. Musk says that he will dial back his work with the government so that he can spend more time with all ten of his families. People forget Elon, he can't spend all his time in Washington. He has a company to run into the ground.”
Reaching for the Nazi card, Kimmel continued, “In the first three months of this year, Tesla's profits fell 71 percent, which I guess is what happens when your CEO turns into white Kanye before your eyes.”
Kimmel added, “But I don't know about this plan. He might as well stay. I'm really not sure going back to Tesla is going to help anything at all. The reason Tesla is tanking is because people hate him and they don't want to buy his stuff. Him being back is not going to make it better. What he needs to do is sell Tesla to someone more likable, like chlamydia or AIDS.”
Invoking chlamydia and AIDS is not news for Kimmel. He once responded to a passage in former Sen. Mitt Romney’s book about a possible unity ticket with him and Ted Cruz in 2016 to run against Donald Trump in the primary by claiming that would be “like trying to fight chlamydia by teaming up with AIDS.”
Between the Nazi and STD references, the real question is whether Jimmy Kimmel Live! can produce any original material that goes beyond simplistic name-calling.
Here is a transcript for the April 23 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
4/23/2025
11:40 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: And then we have Mr. Congeniality, Elon Musk, who has been lying low as of late and reportedly wants to get out of DOGE. Musk says that he will dial back his work with the government so that he can spend more time with all ten of his families. People forget Elon, he can't spend all his time in Washington. He has a company to run into the ground. In the first three months of this year, Tesla's profits fell 71 percent, which I guess is what happens when your CEO turns into white Kanye before your eyes, but I don't know about this plan. He might as well stay. I'm really not sure going back to Tesla is going to help anything at all. The reason Tesla is tanking is because people hate him and they don't want to buy his stuff. Him being back is not going to make it better. What he needs to do is sell Tesla to someone more likable, like chlamydia or AIDS.
