Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Josh Johnson reacted on Thursday to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that paved the way for states to get rid of minority-majority districts with all of the scholarly analysis one expects from a comedy show, which is to say none at all. Instead, Johnson just called everyone a racist while also smearing Justice Clarence Thomas as an “Uncle Tom.” Meanwhile, over on ABC, Jimmy Kimmel claimed the goal for Republicans is to ensure that only white people can get elected.
Reacting to a clip of Newsmax host Rob Schmitt arguing such districts are not needed anymore because it is not the 1960s, Johnson quipped, “I just thought when racism would be over, I'd hear about it from a civil rights leader or something. Not a guy who looks like a racist version of the dad from Modern Family.”
If Johnson were to be believed, things are actually worse than the 60s, “It almost feels like we're going in reverse. Because the people from the '60s in black and white TV were like, 'Wow, this country is being pretty racist. We should pass some legislation,' and the people crippling that legislation are from now, in 4K. Just so we're all aware, newscasters who would do reports like ‘That Jackie Robinson is the best colored player in the Negro League’ believed in voting rights more than our representatives now.”
Johnson had so little faith in his fellow citizens that he argued that without the VRA, things would go back to the way they were pre-VRA, “What these people don't get is that to the extent there's less discrimination now, it's partly because we had the VRA. So, this is like my uncle who threw away his medication because he said his heart wasn't bothering him anymore. And to be fair, he did stop having heart problems because he's dead!”
He then turned to Thomas, “And one of the most brain-breaking things about this ruling is it's literally taking power from black people in the South, and it was voted for by a black guy from the South. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is black! He might not know it, but he is black. How could you, of all people vote for this, Clarence? You were like an uncle to all of us! Uncle Clarence Thomas. Uncle Thomas for short. Uncle Tom for shorter.”
As for Kimmel, he reacted to the Court’s ruling by declaring, “The Voting Rights Act is, or was, a landmark civil rights law that prohibits racial discrimination when it comes to voting and ensures that all citizens have equal access to the ballot, or at least it did until yesterday. Today the Republican governor of Louisiana is using this ruling as an excuse to delay an election for May 16th, an election that has already begun. Absentee votes have already been cast. But they want to throw that all away and change it. They want to redraw their voting districts.”
Jimmy Kimmel claims "They claim that they are doing this to take race out of the equation by making sure that only white people are elected to office. This country is like a game of Jenga now. One good sneeze and we're done." pic.twitter.com/WlU1GpSobY
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 1, 2026
Legal questions about postponing elections aside, Kimmel claimed he knew the real reason for the move, “Imagine if a football team had an injured quarterback and forced the NFL to delay the Super Bowl a few weeks until he got better. That's what this is like. They claim that they are doing this to take race out of the equation by making sure that only white people are elected to office. This country is like a game of Jenga right now. One good sneeze and we're done.”
It isn’t the 1960s anymore, and it is insulting to say otherwise. For people like Johnson and Kimmel, “voting rights” has become synonymous with “my preferred candidate winning.” Does anyone really believe Johnson would be calling Thomas an “Uncle Tom” if VRA districts voted Republican?
Here are transcripts for the April 30 shows:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
4/30/2026
11:06 PM ET
JOSH JOHNSON: I just thought when racism would be over, I'd hear about it from a civil rights leader or something. Not a guy who looks like a racist version of the dad from Modern Family. It almost feels like we're going in reverse. Because the people from the '60s in black and white TV were like, "Wow, this country is being pretty racist. We should pass some legislation," and the people crippling that legislation are from now, in 4K.
Just so we're all aware, newscasters who would do reports like "That Jackie Robinson is the best colored player in the Negro League" believed in voting rights more than our representatives now.
What these people don't get is that to the extent there's less discrimination now, it's partly because we had the VRA. So, this is like my uncle who threw away his medication because he said his heart wasn't bothering him anymore. And to be fair, he did stop having heart problems because he's dead!
And one of the most brain-breaking things about this ruling is it's literally taking power from black people in the South, and it was voted for by a black guy from the South. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is black! He might not know it, but he is black. How could you, of all people vote for this, Clarence? You were like an uncle to all of us! Uncle Clarence Thomas. Uncle Thomas for short. Uncle Tom for shorter.
***
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
4/30/2026
11:47 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: The Voting Rights Act is, or was, a landmark civil rights law that prohibits racial discrimination when it comes to voting and ensures that all citizens have equal access to the ballot, or at least it did until yesterday. Today the Republican governor of Louisiana is using this ruling as an excuse to delay an election for May 16th, an election that has already begun. Absentee votes have already been cast. But they want to throw that all away and change it. They want to redraw their voting districts.
Imagine if a football team had an injured quarterback and forced the NFL to delay the Super Bowl a few weeks until he got better. That's what this is like. They claim that they are doing this to take race out of the equation by making sure that only white people are elected to office. This country is like a game of Jenga right now. One good sneeze and we're done.
