ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel does not like being reminded that he once dismissed the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic began as a lab leak, so on his Tuesday show he compared Fox News’s Tucker Carlson to “diarrhea” while blaming him and others for anti-Asian violence in America.
Transitioning from a joke about Shigella and Chipotle, Kimmel turned the news that the Department of Energy has joined the lab leak theorists, “Now, speaking of diarrhea, Tucker Carlson of Fox News, yesterday, we learned that the Department of Energy, you probably know about this, believes with what they described as "low confidence" that COVID may have leaked from a lab in China. Eight federal agencies now have weighed in with their assessments. Four believe COVID came from natural transmission, two say it was a lab leak, and two are undecided.”
Kimmel’s reaction to the actual news was one of indifference, but resented that not everybody reacted as he has, “In other words, we don't know. But the dingbats now see this as some kind of proof that they were right that the virus came from a Chinese leak in a laboratory, which by the way, it might have. The point is, we didn't know then. We still don't know.”
While it is not wrong to say we didn’t know then and we still don’t know now, Kimmel and others were previously certain that the lab leak theorists were conspiracy theorists. Not only that, “But what we did know, that Trump and his buddies blaming the Chinese resulted in a great deal of anti-Asian-American sentiment and even violence in this country and that's why it was irresponsible for the president to call it the 'China Virus.' But Tucker Carlson, apparently, disagrees.”
Kimmel then played a clip from Carlson’s Monday show that featured a clip of the April 30, 2020, edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!:
DONALD TRUMP [APRIL 29, 2020]: This plague should never have happened. It could have been stopped, but people chose not to stop it.
JIMMY KIMMEL [APRIL 30, 2020]: What people? Tomorrow he'll blame the Spanish Flu on Antonio Banderas.
Carlson naturally criticized Kimmel for his dismissiveness, “Yeah. Imagine if you’re a comedian and all of a sudden your cue card has all kinds of talking points from politicians and foreign governments on it. Don’t read it. You degrade yourself and become complicit in the greatest crime in history.”
Instead of simply admitting it was possible that he was wrong and others were possibly correct, Kimmel attacked Carlson for his views on Russia, “Isn’t that beautiful. I mean, the idea that this man would accuse-- that I would be accused of reading talking points from foreign governments. If it weren't so brazen, it would almost be funny coming from this loathsome, un-American, Moscow mule.”
Of course, Carlson’s Russia views have nothing to do with Kimmel’s own China views and others can be fierce critics of Vladimir Putin and still believe Kimmel is trying to hide from his previous position.
This segment was sponsored by Target.
Here is a transcript for the February 28 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2/28/2023
11:36 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Now, speaking of diarrhea, Tucker Carlson of Fox News, yesterday, we learned that the Department of Energy, you probably know about this, believes with what they described as "low confidence" that COVID may have leaked from a lab in China. Eight federal agencies now have weighed in with their assessments. Four believe COVID came from natural transmission, two say it was a lab leak, and two are undecided.
In other words, we don't know. But the dingbats now see this as some kind of proof that they were right that the virus came from a Chinese leak in a laboratory, which by the way, it might have. The point is, we didn't know then. We still don't know.
But what we did know, that Trump and his buddies blaming the Chinese resulted in a great deal of anti-Asian-American sentiment and even violence in this country and that's why it was irresponsible for the president to call it the "China Virus." But Tucker Carlson, apparently, disagrees.
DONALD TRUMP [APRIL 29, 2020]: This plague should never have happened. It could have been stopped, but people chose not to stop it.
KIMMEL [APRIL 30, 2020]: What people? Tomorrow he'll blame the Spanish Flu on Antonio Banderas.
TUCKER CARLSON: Yeah. Imagine if you’re a comedian and all of a sudden your cue card has all kinds of talking points from politicians and foreign governments on it. Don’t read it. You degrade yourself and become complicit in the greatest crime in history.
KIMMEL: Isn’t that beautiful. I mean, the idea that this man would accuse-- that I would be accused of reading talking points from foreign governments. If it weren't so brazen, it would almost be funny coming from this loathsome, un-American, Moscow mule.
