By C. Douglas Golden October 25, 2024 at 4:22am
I’ll give Jimmy Kimmel this much: The first step in getting help is admitting that you have a problem.
The ABC host was on MSNBC this week, giving a two-part interview to “Morning Joe” Scarborough. Apparently, NBC’s own Jimmy Fallon didn’t fit the bill; maybe it was because the host of “The Tonight Show” just doesn’t get up that early? Or maybe it was the politics?
Actually, yeah — it was definitely the politics. And I’ll give Kimmel this much: He was proud to admit he has Trump Derangement Syndrome™.
“I’m an optimistic person,” Kimmel said at the outset of the second part of the interview, aired Thursday. “I’m not hysterical, I laugh when people say, ‘Oh, you’ve got Trump Derangement Syndrome.’ If you’re a reasonable person, you should have Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
The self-proclaimed inveterate optimist went on to say that Trump is “a dangerous person, a stupid person, and that’s a bad combination … he’s not just running for president, he’s running to stay out of prison.”
So apparently, he did get his talking points sheet from the Kamala campaign, albeit a few months late; they’ve moved on to “literally Hitler” these days.
Kimmel went on to say that Trump “[tried] to pressure Disney because of our jokes,” apparently under the impression this was somehow damning.
He’s so optimistic, he went on to say, that Trump has seeped into his sleep.
“I will tell you — I’ve been dreaming the last three nights,” Kimmel said. “I’ve just been going through all of this craziness over and over, it’s really starting to take a toll.
Do you watch any of the late night TV hosts?
“Like, I just — I can’t get it out of my head.”
Scarborough then asked whether Kimmel “look[ed] forward to the day when you don’t have to — because one of the things that is so exhausting to me, and why there have been several times where I was like, I don’t think I can do this anymore, you don’t want to talk, I don’t care who it is — the same person every day, and yet every day there are more outrageous things said, so if you don’t talk about it, you’re giving a permission structure — do you look forward to the day when–“
Apparently, Trump Derangement Syndrome™ allows you to see a question in that whole garble: “Oh, boy, do I,” Kimmel responded.
“Not only do I look forward to the day, I was telling my wife, I don’t feel like I’m mentally prepared for the possibility of a loss.”
If you have moderate to severe Trump Derangement Syndrome™, ask your doctor if Kamala™ is right for you. Side effects include inflation, debt, incoherency, abortion up until the moment of birth, filibuster-nuking, loss of job, pregnant nannies, and whatever the hell is wrong with Tim Walz.
Look, if you’re the type of person who finds Jimmy Kimmel funny, you probably aren’t surprised at this. Heck, you’re probably a sufferer, too. However, the fact that this is what passes for both a late-night comedy host and a cable news morning show is indicative of why voters feel so disillusioned with the media.
Over the past almost-decade, we’ve seen a movement on most American outlets from Trump is funny to Trump is funny-but-bad to Trump is funny-but-evil to Trump-is-evil-how-dare-you-laugh to Trump-is-literally-Hitler to Trump-is-an-insurrectionist to Trump-is-literally-Hitler-and-an-insurrectionist-and-do-you-want-to-put-Jimmy-Kimmel-through-a-loss-he-isn’t-prepared-for-America?
And that’s just the adumbrated version. It’s a bit much, in other words.
But what are MSNBC viewers (such as may still exist) waking up to in the morning? Joe Scarborough and Jimmy Kimmel, two of the hoarier figures of #Resistance-era entertainment television — and that’s absolutely what “Morning Joe” is, just in case you were under the misapprehension you were consuming anything of socially nutritive value — talking to each other about their Trump Derangement Syndrome™ symptoms.
At least one of them admits he’s a sufferer, and is apparently proud of it. If only more of the people who populate our 4K screens would be more honest about this fact.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture
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