Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel criticized certain Democratic voices for alienating voters, calling them “repulsive” during an appearance on The Sarah Silverman Podcast.
Kimmel and Silverman discussed the persistence of cancel culture on the left since President Donald Trump’s return to office, as well as the Democratic Party’s lack of leadership and growing internal divisions. Silverman pointed to the backlash against podcast host Joe Rogan, who faced online criticism for opposing Trump’s second term despite supporting him in 2024. She called it “ironic” that the self-proclaimed party of “inclusivity” could also be “incredibly elitist.”
While defending Democrats overall, Kimmel acknowledged that some progressive activists have hurt the party’s image. “It’s not the party. It’s not the majority. It’s the loud voices that scare people from saying what they believe and make you think twice about a joke or whatever,” Kimmel said.
“You know, a lot of their points are valid, but a lot of them are also just repulsive, in that they repel people,” he added. “They go like, ‘Oh, you’re no fun. I don’t want to be around you.’ And I think that if you had to boil it down to one thing, that’s kind of what it is.”
The remarks come amid turbulence in the late-night television world. Following the July cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, President Trump predicted that Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon would be “next” to lose their shows.
