Jimmy Kimmel Fires Back at MAGA Critics on Michelle Obama’s Podcast: ‘Don’t Tell Me What My Job Is’

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel lashed out at viewers upset with his focus on President Donald Trump, telling them to stop informing him what his “job” is.

Kimmel joined Michelle Obama and her brother and co-host Craig Robinson on the latest episode of the IMO podcast, released Wednesday, where at one point the conversation turned to the state of comedy under Trump.

Kimmel is a vocal critic of Trump and has found himself on the receiving end of some insults from the president. He was also at the center of controversy when he went through a brief suspension last year over a joke made after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel argued that the sometimes-serious tone he takes in monologues, as well as his focus on Trump and politics, is “unavoidable.” He added that he’d find it “embarrassing” to not be talking about those things on late night.

“It just seems obvious and unavoidable. I just can’t imagine on those nights talking about anything other than what we are talking about… I think it would be embarrassing if we didn’t talk about this. It would be shameful. I love telling jokes. I love being funny. I love when the audience laughs. There’s nothing that’s more exciting to me than that,” Kimmel said.

He accused critics of trying to define the parameters of his job, which he said is to “talk about what’s going on in people’s lives.”

“To say that, well your job is this, it makes me — I bristle at that,” Kimmel said. “Because, first of all, don’t tell me what my job is. I don’t tell you what your job is. My job is whatever I decide my job is, whatever my employer allows me to do. That’s what my job is.”

Kimmel added that critics show their “ignorance” when they compare him to past late-night hosts like Johnny Carson.

“Comedians have been doing this for a long time. You know, from my generation, George Carlin, Richard Pryor. It just shows a great deal of ignorance when it comes to comedy to say, well, Johnny Carson didn’t do this,” Kimmel said. “Well, first of all, we’re living in a different time. And secondly, how do you know Johnny Carson wouldn’t do it? I bet Johnny Carson would talk about it. I bet Johnny Carson would be absolutely mortified by what’s going on.”

Watch above via IMO podcast.

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