It was just over one minute at the top of his monologue Tuesday night and there were no tears. But Jimmy Kimmel still had an important message he wanted to deliver to those who have been criticizing his decision to speak out forcefully on gun control following the awful mass shooting in his hometown of Las Vegas.
“I want to send special good wishes to those watching from Las Vegas,” Kimmel said. “You know what happened on Sunday night. I’m not going to get deep into it again tonight, I said what I had to say last night.”
“But I do want to say something to those nuts who spent most of the day on television and online attacking those of us who think we need to do something about the fact that 59 innocent people were killed,” the host continued. “They say it’s inappropriate to be talking about it because it’s too soon. Well, maybe it is too soon for you because deep down inside you know—in your heart you know you bear some responsibility for the fact that almost anyone can get any weapon they want, and now you want to cover yourself until the storm of outrage passes and you can go back to your dirty business as usual.”
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“It is not too soon for us,” he added. “We’re Americans. And last time I checked, the First Amendment is at least as important as the Second Amendment.” Kimmel assured those watching that he would keep talking about the gun issue, adding “Shame on you for suggesting we do otherwise.”
Among those gun “nuts” was Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who singled out Kimmel by name on his show Tuesday night, calling his words “utterly disgraceful.”
