Jimmy Kimmel was visibly emotional during his late-night monologue on Thursday, February 15, while speaking about the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
The TV host, 50, began his message by urging President Donald Trump to “tell your buddies in Congress — tell Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and Marco Rubio, all the family men who care so much about their communities — that what we need are laws, real laws, that do everything possible to keep assault rifles out of the hands of people who are going to shoot our kids.”
As previously reported, former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, was arrested and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after he opened fire with an AR-15 rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, February 14, killing 17 students and adults and injuring 14 others. It was the 18th school shooting of 2018.
“Don’t you dare let anyone say it’s too soon to be talking about [gun control],” Kimmel said, fighting back tears. “Because you said it after Vegas, you said it after Sandy Hook, you say that after every one of these … fatal school shootings we had in this country this year. Children are being murdered.”
Speaking directly to Trump, the comedian continued, “Do something. We still haven’t even talked about it. You still haven’t done anything about this. Nothing. You’ve literally done nothing. Actually, you’ve done worse than nothing! You like to say this is a mental health issue, but one of your very first acts as president, Mr. Trump, was actually roll back the regulations that were designed to keep firearms out of the hands of the mentally ill.”
The former Celebrity Apprentice host, 71, addressed the massacre while speaking earlier on Thursday at the White House. He vowed to meet with “the nation’s governors and attorney generals” later this month to make “our schools and our children safer,” but was criticized on Twitter for not supporting gun control laws.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs on ABC weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET.
