JIMMY SLAYS GOLIATH — The Weekly Opine

Back in the high life. (Photo credit Time Magazine)

Power of the People

Well, that wasn’t on my dance card. Who imagined that Cracker Barrel and Walt Dizzy, er, I mean Walt Disney would be running in the same pack? Both companies suffered large financial setbacks because of mind-numbing, dunce cap-worthy decisions by their CEOs. Subsequently, Cracker Barrel and now Dizzy, dang it, Disney, were forced to retreat when the People said, “Aww, hell no, not today, not right now.”

Money (especially losing it) talks

Cracker Barrel’s re-branding foray shrank the company’s market value by a not-so-cool $100 million. Disney, with tentacles in a variety of media companies, took a brutal beating. The Mouse suffered a whopping $4 billion loss in market value as customers cancelled Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, fighting back against news that Jimmy Kimmel’s show was being pulled “indefinitely.”

Fierce pushback against Disney’s meek submission to Trump’s and FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s demand to take away Kimmel’s right to free speech resonated across the land. Disney talent postponed appearances. Late night competitors (and friends of Kimmel’s) rallied to his defense and, more importantly, to the defense of the First Amendment. Anger came from the right, too, as influential MAGA personalities like Joe Rogan expressed outrage. Even, gulp, Ted Cruz sided with the Constitution. Indeed, fissures are appearing as some MAGAs uncharacteristically raise their eyebrows. Just wait until the Big Beautiful Bill kicks in.

On Monday, Disney released a statement announcing Kimmel would return on Tuesday night, after the two parties engaged in “thoughtful” conversations. I took to social media with my reaction, shown below:

Splashdown

Kimmel was brilliant Tuesday night, watched by an astounding 6.25 million viewers, way above his Q2 average viewership of 1.77 million. This despite dozens of markets refusing to broadcast the show. As of Wednesday evening, more than 26 million viewers watched it on social media. Pow!

Saying he was sorry to have caused a ruckus, Kimmel acknowledged if he was on the other side of this thing he may have been upset, too. He did post on Instagram a message of condolence to Erika Kirk, and the Kirk family, on the day Charlie Kirk was murdered. But of course, MAGAs can’t let it go. Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet, an executive producer and friend of Charlie Kirk’s, flapped his gums saying Kimmel’s remarks were “not good enough.” In fact, Kimmel offered compassion to Ms. Kirk, whereas many MAGAs believed Alex Jones when he claimed Sandy Hook was a hoax.

Truthfully, Jimmy Kimmel did what he needed to do by saying he’s sorry. That’s way more than anything said by MAGAs when a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker was murdered. Kimmel’s original comment – that Tyler Robinson was MAGA – has not been proven right or wrong. If nothing else, Kimmel’s comment was a counterbalance to what MAGA was spewing about Robinson being a woke, trans-loving liberal. Just yesterday, after the deadly shooting at a Dallas ICE facility, without proof MAGA hypocrites promptly blamed the left.

And speaking of apologies, I’m sure Abrego Garcia is still waiting for an apology from puppy killer Kristi Noem and the $50,000 (con) man Tom Homan.

While giving Kimmel props for reaching out to Ms. Kirk, I also posted on social media a reminder of who we are dealing with. Far from an angel, Erika Kirk is as bad or worse (according to Charlie Kirk’s own words) in terms of being ultra-conservative. She believes what her husband believed. The nasty, cruel Charlie Kirk quotes you’ve read could easily have come from Erika Kirk. Give this woman, now leader of Turning Point USA, no quarter. None of these people are good human beings. Erika Kirk is a fake Christian same as Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Pete Hegseth and the whole lot.

During his monologue Kimmel took FCC Chair Brendan Carr apart, saying Carr is the most embarrassing car embraced by Republicans since Tesla. Not letting up, Kimmel read quotes from 2022 when both Carr and Trump vigorously defended the First Amendment and free speech.

Kimmel used his renewed platform to send a message to Dems and law firms and media companies and universities and everyone: stop acquiescing (in what I call “anticipatory capitulation”). Instead, fight back!

This may be naive, but I believe Kimmel’s courageous performance will help convert people who know in their hearts that Trump and MAGA are frauds. We need tangible examples of someone standing up to and defeating Trump. Kimmel provided a clear example Tuesday night.

After Trump clowned in front of the world at the United Nations, Jimmy Kimmel operated in front of a huge audience with grace, class and biting humor. (Photos credit The Weekly Opine, ABC)

Wasn’t it ironic?

Tuesday, Trump made a fool of himself again, this time on arguably the biggest world stage for a U.S. president. At the United Nations, Trump displayed absolute, unrestrained buffoonery as he staggered from one topic to another. Trump made no more sense than he did Monday when he told pregnant women to stop taking Tylenol. Outdoing himself, the most ignorant president in U.S. history proclaimed he now understands the war in Ukraine. Trump said he is OK if Ukraine regains territory lost to Russia. (Zelenskyy should not take Trump’s new tune of support to the bank. A phone call from Putin and TACO will reverse himself.)

After Trump’s unmatched incompetence, it was encouraging seeing Kimmel back at work, standing upright, on top of his game. The skit with Robert De Niro was hilarious, with De Niro bringing the focus back to where it should be. De Niro cracked that “[Trump’s] so fat he needs two seats on the Epstein jet.”

The Epstein files. Release the Epstein files. That’s the ticket.