Recommendations of the Editorial team
George Clooney has condemned political violence while standing behind comedian Jimmy Kimmel – after Donald Trump renewed his call for Disney and ABC to Firing Kimmel over a parody of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Last week, Kimmel hosted his own “alternative” gala on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” where he delivered a “monologue” to a fictional audience including President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. At one point, the late-night host joked about the 79-year-old president’s advanced age, telling Melania, “You have the glow of an expectant widow.” The parody ran two days before the April 25 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which had to be evacuated after a gunman opened fire outside the venue. The suspect was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the president. Trump suggested that Kimmel’s joke foreshadowed the security incident that led to the evacuation.
According to Variety, Clooney, an outspoken Trump critic, spoke about the incident at the 51st Chaplin Awards gala – an event where the actor himself was honored on Monday night. Clooney drew a comparison between the backlash Kimmel received and a statement from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt that was also taken out of context. Before entering the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Leavitt said on the red carpet on Fox News: “There’s going to be some shots fired in the room tonight” – apparently alluding to the jokes prepared for the evening.
Clooney on dangerous rhetoric
“Jimmy is a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t think there should be any actual shots fired,” Clooney said. “She made a joke. Fair enough. You look at that site and think, ‘Well, jokes are jokes.’ But the rhetoric is a bit dangerous. And we’ve been seeing that a lot lately.” The actor said overheated rhetoric can be “turned down” and: “When one side calls everyone they disagree with a traitor to the country – which is a charge punishable by death – just because they disagree, then the rhetoric is a little too heated.”
Clooney also condemned all forms of political violence. “I am against everything this administration stands for, but there is no place for the kind of violence we saw two nights ago in Washington, DC. Just as there is no place for this kind of violence in Minnesota against Alex Pretti or Renée Good,” he said. “It seems to me there is a battle to be won against hatred, corruption, cruelty and violence.”
