Jimmy Kimmel, dubbed an “insufferable nonsense propaganda puppet” by Elon Musk earlier this week, responded to the Tesla CEO. He said it takes one to know one.
The Emmy-winning late-night host returned Musk's shade on social media Thursday, mocking in his opening monologue that “the guy who paid people a million dollars a day to vote for Donald Trump is calling me a propaganda puppet. “
“Listen Kermit, you bought Twitter,” Kimmel criticized Musk. “You bought a social media platform that is literally a propaganda machine.”
Musk, who acquired the social media platform for $44 billion in late 2022, called Kimmel a “propaganda puppet” on Thursday morning after the comedian's post-election monologue on Wednesday went viral. The tech billionaire also expressed similar opinions about music and entertainment celebrities endorsing “Kamala's puppet” days before the election.
In Wednesday's emotional speech, Kimmel cried as he lamented the results of the presidential election and expressed concern about the implications of another four years under former President Trump, who defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to secure a second term.
“It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hard-working immigrants who keep this country moving forward, for health care, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for freedom of expression.” Kimmel said in his first post-election show. “It was a terrible night for the poor, for the middle class, for the elderly who depend on Social Security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO and truth, democracy and decency. And it was a terrible night for everyone who voted against him. And guess what? It was also a bad night for everyone who voted for him. “You just don’t realize it yet.”
Kimmel has long been critical of Trump and has used his late-night show to not only mock the president-elect but also share how the former reality TV star's policies have impacted his personal life. Kimmel urged viewers in 2020 to consider the GOP's plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would negatively impact people with a pre-existing condition, including his son Billy, who lives with congenital heart disease. On Thursday, Kimmel compared the current political environment to “standing in the middle of the road waiting for a bus to hit us, but it's still 40 miles away.”
During his opening monologue, Kimmel also lashed out at Musk for his past tweets calling media organizations, including the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Associated Press, propaganda machines. “AP stands for Associated Propaganda,” Musk had written in a September tweet. Kimmel also mocked Musk's commitment to Trump, citing the president-elect's 2022 Truth Social post that described Musk as desperate for government subsidies.
“I could have said 'kneel and beg,' and he would have done it,” Trump wrote two years ago.
Musk's relationship with Trump wasn't the only one in Kimmel's crosshairs on Thursday. The comedian also criticized Musk's family life. Musk is the father of 12 children from relationships with several women. His daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, who is transgender, has spoken out against Musk several times. More recently, Wilson wrote Thursday that his father is a “delusional, dirty little control freak who hasn't matured as a person in 38 years.”
“At least my kids like me,” Kimmel also said Thursday.
