Jimmy Kimmel slammed Trump on gun violence in an emotional monologue
During an emotional opening monologue on Thursday, February 15th, Jimmy Kimmel addressed the deadly Florida shooting that claimed the lives of 17 innocent people. He also called out President Donald Trump, saying he’s “literally done nothing” to solve the problem of gun violence. The late-night host emphasized that it’s not too soon to take action on gun control and even offered a few solutions.
“This is another very sad day in America,” Kimmel began. “Another senseless shooting. This time at a high school in Parkland, Florida.”
He then showed footage of Trump saying that “no child or teacher should ever be in danger while at school” and that “no parent should ever have to fear for their sons and daughters when they kiss them goodbye in the morning.”
“I agree with both of those statements, Kimmel said in response. “So here’s what you do to fix that. Tell your buddies in Congress, tell Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, all the family men who care so much about their communities, that what we need are laws, real laws, that do everything possible to keep assault rifles out of the hands of people who are going to shoot our kids. Go on TV and tell them to do that.
“Children are being murdered,” he continued, his voice shaking as he held back tears. “Do something. We still haven’t talked about it. You still haven’t done anything about this. Nothing. You’ve literally done nothing.”
You can watch Kimmel’s emotional plea in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0vLiQLpsc8?feature=oembed
Kimmel also got candid about our biggest problem. “Somewhere along the line, these guys forgot they work for us, not the NRA. Us,” he said. “And this time, we’re not gonna allow you to bow your head in prayer for two weeks until you get an all-clear and we move on to the next thing.”
The truth is that we’re at the center of a vicious cycle: There’s a deadly shooting, followed by prayers and thoughts until everyone forgets. Then it happens again and we’re left wondering why nothing gets done to prevent innocent people from dying at the hands of deadly weapons. This time, something needs to change, and that change needs to start at the top.