“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Saying that during his Monday night monologue, Jimmy Kimmel generated quite a reaction, as well as a suspension.
Yet it looks like the gist of the “joke” may have been borrowed from a famous predecessor.
Following the tragic assassination of Robert Kennedy in June 1968, Johnny Carson had this to say a few nights later during his Tonight Show monologue:
“Democratic and Civil Rights activists are really trying to paint this Sirhan Sirhan guy who shot Bobby as anything other than one of them. They’re doing everything they can to make Sirhan look like some conservative.”
Sure, those were different times, but wow, just wow.
There was no outcry over Carson’s remarks. He wasn’t suspended. He wasn’t given a list of demands to make things good. He simply continued on with his show, 24 more years, retiring as an icon.
How could that possibly be?
Because it never happened. Carson never said any such thing.