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Supporters of Donald Trump are lashing out at late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after he tore into the former president’s public reaction to the shocking killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on September 10 while hosting a rally at Utah Valley University. In a chilling twist of fate, he was in the middle of answering an audience question about gun violence when a single bullet struck him in the neck. Despite being rushed to hospital, Trump later confirmed Kirk had died, calling him a “martyr for truth and freedom.”
Days later, authorities arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who now faces seven charges, including aggravated murder. Officials have not formally confirmed Robinson’s political affiliation, though Utah’s Republican governor Spencer Cox claimed he was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology,” citing information allegedly provided by the suspect’s family and friends.
Trump quickly ordered all federal flags flown at half-staff in Kirk’s honor, describing the podcaster as “tremendous.” He also issued a warning to those he said were “celebrating” Kirk’s death, hinting at consequences for critics.
But while the former president’s initial remarks were highly emotional, his more recent comments have raised eyebrows—and given late-night TV plenty of material. On his ABC show this week, Kimmel aired footage of Trump speaking outside the White House after being asked how he was coping with the loss.
“I think very good,” Trump said, before immediately pivoting to a rambling update on White House renovations. “By the way, right there you see all the trucks. They just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they’ve been trying to get for about 150 years. And it’s gonna be a beauty. It’ll be an absolutely magnificent structure.”
Kimmel wasted no time in skewering the bizarre shift in tone. “He’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” the comedian quipped. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”
The host then played yet another clip—this time of Trump speaking to Fox News, where again, his answer to a question about Kirk’s assassination quickly detoured into talk about his long-desired White House ballroom.
“There’s something wrong with him, there really is,” Kimmel remarked. “Who thinks like that?”
The late-night host didn’t just take aim at Trump. He also criticized MAGA-aligned figures who he said were already weaponizing Kirk’s death for political purposes. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kimmel’s commentary has since drawn heavy fire online. Supporters of Trump and Kirk accused him of crossing a line, with one person on X writing: “I hope this ends his career.” Another fumed: “That guy is such a moron.”
Others, however, defended the late-night host, with some pointing out that Trump’s rambling responses were themselves deeply strange. One user suggested the former president might have been deflecting: “When someone tries to talk to me about something that could make me cry uncontrollably I will attempt to redirect the conversation. I can’t be the only one.”
The controversy underscores a familiar divide: while Trump’s allies see him as unfairly mocked in moments of grief, his critics view his responses as proof of his inability—or unwillingness—to engage with tragedy in a serious, human way.