Jimmy Kimmel Compares Tucker Carlson to the Sacklers for ‘Producing This Deadly Opioid of Lies’ That ‘He’s OK With’

Jimmy Kimmel had some choice words for Fox News host Tucker Carlson on a podcast released Thursday.

The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host appeared on the New York Times podcast, Sway, with Kara Swisher, who asked Kimmel if he thinks Carlson should be “canceled.”

“No, I don’t think we should cancel Tucker Carlson,” he answered. “I think that Tucker Carlson is on commercial television. And if you don’t like Tucker Carlson, you should not buy the products that are advertised on his show. And if you feel like writing a letter to those companies, you should write a letter to them. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to shut people up, because I want to know where people are coming from. I want to know what they think. I want to know if they have horrible thoughts. I want to hear them. I want to hear their confessions.”

He went on to say he doesn’t think Carlson believes what he says on air.

“I think he is a phony in every respect,” he continued. “I think he’s an algorithm. I think his audience created him. I think he started out as a fairly down the middle political broadcaster in a cute little bow tie with polkadots on it.”

Kimmel then referenced a 2004 CNN Crossfire episode in which comedian Jon Stewart ridiculed the show and Carlson, who cohosted at the time.

“And then Jon Stewart handed him his ass, and he had some kind of Lex Luthor moment where he, little by little, figured out what worked for him ratings-wise, which is primarily speaking to senior citizens like they’re kindergarteners and scaring them with garbage,” Kimmel stated.

He concluded by comparing Carlson to the notorious Sackler family, which founded Purdue Pharma. The Sacklers purposely fueled a boom in opioid prescriptions, which caused more people to become addicted to the drug.

“And we all know that, I mean, the news back to the 60s, scaring people is a good way to get them to tune in,” Kimmel added. “And they trust him in the same way they either still do or used to trust television evangelists. But the difference is that the evangelists take the money directly from their victims. They don’t create a terrifying fantasy world that hurts the whole country and the world as well. I think he’s like the media version of the Sackler family. He’s knowingly producing this deadly opioid of lies that has a devastating effect on the country. But he’s OK with it, because it’s making him rich.”

Kimmel has been highly critical of the Fox News host. Last year, he called Carlson a “soppy bag of phlegm.”

Listen above via Sway.