On Tuesday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Jimmy Kimmel got fed up with attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci by various conservatives in politics and in media, and went off on them in an extended rant during his monologue.
Kimmel was inspired/incensed by, among other things, Fox News talking head Lara Logan’s absurd comparison of Fauci to Josef Mengele. And after sharing a sample of some of the outright baldfaced lies, pro-COVID conspiracy theories and other outrageous statements made by various conservatives, Kimmel got into it.
“Let me tell you screwballs something about Dr. Fauci. Cause I’ve had enough of this. And he’s too nice to say this himself,” Kimmel said. “This man –has been working on behalf of the public – that’s us — for more than 50 years.”
“He served under six presidents. Starting with Reagan, President Bush, President Clinton, another President Bush, Obama, Trump, and now Biden. Republicans and Democrats. To suggest that his politics have anything to do with his work or what he recommends — it’s ridiculous. And it’s a lie,” Kimmel continued.
Kimmel then said that Fauci “doesn’t deserve it. He didn’t ask for this. He’s not a politician. He’s a doctor. His interest is in protecting us from disease,” before noting some of the things Fauci has previously worked on, including AIDS research, Ebola virus research, and Zika.
“Thank God there’s someone who is educated enough – and devoted enough – to figure this stuff out for us because we are not gonna figure it out ourselves. And what are the thanks he gets? He gets scumbags – like Ted Cruz, like Rand Paul – like that vile, inflatable Macy’s parade balloon of dogs— Tucker Carlson – making up lies to take him down,” Kimmel added.
“And the reason they do it is so that they can keep terrifying old people – which is basically what they do for a living – they scare senior citizens in order to get ratings and money and votes – but to do that, they need villains. To scare grandma, they need fresh villains,” Kimmel said. “So they zero in on this tiny, adorable, tired man, who has done nothing but good for the world.”
Kimmel argued that Fauci “has probably done more good for the world than all of us in this room combined,” but then joked, “Is Malala here? Because maybe not.”
“But that doesn’t matter. They see him – as a character – in this real-world Wrestlemania they’ve cooked up. They make him a heel, which is a bad guy. And they make stuff up about him. They insinuate that he helped develop the virus in China. He’s part of the deep state – he does cruel experiments on puppies. … They will say anything to tear him down,” Kimmel continued.
“They’d say he invented mosquitoes if people were dumb enough to believe it – and guess what? People are dumb enough to believe it. They’re attacking this friendly man. From Brooklyn! With a family!” Kimmel added.
Kimmel talked up Fauci’s educational background and the fact that Fauci was honored by a previous Republican president, George W. Bush, and noted “even Trump says he liked him! He doesn’t say that about his own children, okay?”
Kimmel was incensed in particular that Fauci, “a brilliant public servant” is being threatened by “these monsters” who “accuse, and slander, and put in real danger, with these disgusting lies. … A man who is trying to keep us alive is getting death threats.”
Kimmel also called out Texas Senator Ted Cruz — who made headlines after taking a vacation in Mexico while his constituents were being battered by a devastating winter storm earlier this year, then lying about it while attempting to blame his daughters, before he finally admitted it.
“Ted Cruz says he should be prosecuted! For what? I have no idea,” Kimmel said. “Ted Cruz should be prosecuted – for illegally using a ferret as a beard.”
Kimmel compared the way Fauci has been treated by right wing politicians and media personalities to how Dr. Jonas Salk was treated during the fight against polio in the 1950s. “Nobody accused him of eating babies. [Salk] didn’t need an armed security detail, because there wasn’t a gang of uneducated morons threatening to ship him off to Guantanamo Bay,” Kimmel said.
“You people keep saying you wanna ‘make America great again?’ Wouldn’t getting a handle on this be one of those great American moments from the 50s we’re so nostalgic for?” Kimmel added.
At the end of his rant, Kimmel joked that if Fauci goes away, he’ll be replaced by rap legend Dr. Dre. “And I’m gonna tell you something. If you threaten him, that’s not going to work out well for you at all.”
Watch the whole clip above.