Geraldo Rivera Says ‘Schmucky’ Jimmy Kimmel ‘Owes’ Kirk Family an Apology Amid Suspension: ‘He’s Not Even Buried!’

Geraldo Rivera argued that Jimmy Kimmel needs to apologize to the family of conservative activist Charlie Kirk before there is any discussion about having him back on the air.

Rivera joined CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday’s The Situation Room following ABC announcing that Kimmel’s late-night show is indefinitely on suspension over comments related to the murder of Kirk. Rivera found no humor in Kimmel’s commentary.

“Focusing on the censorship aspect and the First Amendment aspect, I think it’s losing sight of what should be the lead. And that’s that Jimmy Kimmel owes the family of Charlie Kirk and his wife Erika, two small children, an apology. You know, what’s he saying? That if you’re a member of MAGA and Charlie is a friend of MAGA then he had it coming?” Rivera told Blitzer.

On Kimmel’s show on Monday, the comedian accused “MAGA” of trying anything and everything to make out Tyler Robinson — now facing murder charges for the Kirk shooting — was not “one of them.” According to Robinson’s family and Utah officials, Robinson was “indoctrinated” with “leftist ideology” in the years leading up to Kirk’s murder.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” Kimmel said.

ABC pulled the show after Nexstar, which owns dozens of ABC affiliates, said they would preempt Kimmel’s show for the foreseeable future. Channel owner Sinclair also demanded an apology.

Rivera argued on Thursday:

It’s just in some ways, it’s extremely insensitive. The country is in a very tough spot right now. Everyone is walking on eggshells. The First Amendment is not a license to incite hatred. And, you know, I think that we can think that we can start the discussion once Jimmy Kimmel apologizes, then they can talk about the business aspects and whether or not he gets whether or not he gets back on the schedule and so forth, but there’s got to there’s got to be a recognition that a terrible thing has happened here, and that millions of Americans are grievously hurt by what happened.

The former Fox News host added, “He’s not even buried yet, for goodness sake. And to make fun of the flags at half staff and so forth, I just think that we’ve got to look at it with a notion that the country has to be healed.”

Rivera and Blitzer at one point could not even agree on what Kimmel actually said even after a clip from his show was played.

According to Rivera:

He’s basically saying that members of MAGA are — because Tyler Robinson is a member of MAGA, and because of that, somehow they had it coming, that Charlie Kirk had it coming. That, you know, once you go there, once you, you know, embrace that philosophy, that ideology, you’re fair game. You know, know, it’s just a I think that too often we — my whole life 55 years in the news business, the First Amendment has been my shield, my protection, I embrace it, I celebrate it, it’s extremely important, and it is important, and it is at times embattled, and I get I get that — But what we don’t get, you know, the more sophisticated it seems we are, what we don’t get is how grievously hurt regular people are. And how difficult sometimes in positions of power in communications or government, how easy it is to overlook the sincerity of that feeling and to dismiss it.

Blitzer pushed back on this takeaway from Kimmel’s words.

“I want to get some context here, because Jimmy Kimmel, in that monologue, he was making a point about supposed right-wing finger-pointing at the left. He was not suggesting that Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect, was MAGA. He was not necessarily making that suggestion,” he told Rivera.

Rivera acknowledged they may see it “differently,” and then he trashed Kimmel for being “schmucky.” He acknowledged that “censorship sucks” and he thinks the government being involved in “producing shows” is “dangerous,” but doubled down on his claim that Kimmel was mocking a nation’s “trauma.”

“I guess, I guess we could see it different ways. I respect you totally, and I respect your opinion on that. I just I have to tell you how I responded when I first heard it,” he said. “I said, really? How dare he? How schmucky can he be? We haven’t buried this person yet.”

Watch above via CNN.