ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel gave an emotional opening monologue on the Los Angeles fires on Monday, while also blasting President-elect Donald Trump for giving a “disgusting” response to the disaster.
A teary-eyed Kimmel, who broadcasts from Los Angeles, returned to the airwaves for the first time since the fires broke out and discussed how they have affected the city, as well as the filming of his show, stating, “it has been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week here in L.A. — where we work, where we live, where our kids go to school. We are back in our studio, which we had to evacuate on Wednesday.”
After speaking about the horrific affect the fires have had on the city, Kimmel touched on the unity the disaster has also brought in its wake, saying “it has also been, in a lot of ways, a beautiful experience, because once again, we see our fellow men and women coming together to support each other. People who lost their own homes were out volunteering in parking lots, helping others who lost theirs.”
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Kimmel then took the opportunity to blast Trump’s response to the fires, stating, “I don’t want to get into all the vile and irresponsible and stupid things our alleged future president and his gaggle of scumbags chose to say during our darkest and most terrifying hour.”
“The fact that they chose to attack our firefighters, who apparently aren’t White enough to be out there risking their lives on our behalf, it’s disgusting but it’s not surprising. Instead, I want to focus on thanking those men and women,” says Kimmel.
The late-night host went on to praise the firefighters working to put the blaze out, saying, “Our firefighters from L.A. were the first on the scene, without hesitation. They were out there putting out the fires as best they could.” He then thanked the other firefighters and emergency workers from across the country and world for their contributions.
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Kimmel also informed his audience about how they could help with recovery efforts, as well as thanking local news reporters, saying, “If you want to thank these brave individuals with a donation, this is a very good place to start; supportlafd.org. And I also want to thank our local news reporters, who reminded us how important local television and radio and newspapers are, especially in times like this.”
