Late night chat show host Jimmy Kimmel has taken aim at Donald Trump’s “vile and irresponsible” comments amid the LA wildfires.
Jimmy Kimmel has blasted Donald Trump for “vile and irresponsible” comments about wildfires.
The 57-year-old talk show host has opened up about the “terrible” situation as fires have been blazing across over 40,000 acres in the Los Angeles area with at least 24 people dead, and thousands of homes destroyed.
President-elect Trump has taken to his own Truth Social platform and been critical of California’s leaders over the fires still burning.
Presenting his show ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ for the first time since the infernos, the star said: “Tonight I don’t want to get into all the vile and irresponsible and stupid things our future president and his gaggle of scumbags chose to say during out darkest and most terrifying hour.
“The fact that he chose to attack our firefighters who are out there risking their lives on our behalf, it’s disgusting but not surprising.
“Instead, I want to focus on thanking those men and women, because that’s all we should be doing.”
Jimmy – who teared up live on air – pointed out that everyone in Los Angeles “knows someone” affected by the fires, and people “don’t even know if it’s over”.
He said: “Many of us had to leave our homes in a hurry; some of our coworkers lost their homes. It’s been terrible.
“Everyone who lives in this city knows someone — most of us, multiple people; family, friends, colleagues, neighbors — whose houses have burned down.
“And the truth is, we don’t even know if it’s over. We had 100 mph winds fueling this nightmare and as of tonight, winds are back.”
He insisted despite the “sickening” scenes across LA, there was a “beautiful” side to the tragedy in the way people have “come together” as a community to help one another.
He added: “I think I speak for all of us when I say it’s been a sickening, shocking, awful experience but it’s 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 are out volunteering in parking lots for others who lost theirs.”
On Truth Social, Trump took aim at those in power over the extent of the fires.
He wrote: “The fires are still raging in LA. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out.
“Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost.
“They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?”
Tearful Jimmy Kimmel blasts Donald Trump over ‘vile’ comments about Los Angeles fires
