ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel may be in the middle of his summer vacation away from his TV show, but he still found time to stop by The Sarah Silverman Podcast on Thursday and admit that the Democratic Party has an elitism problem and that there is a certain brand of liberal activist that is “just repulsive.” However, Kimmel failed to recognize that he might be part of this problem.
Silverman told her ex-boyfriend, “I mean, Republicans know the difference between right and wrong in general, like they know what they're doing. It—something is, I don't know, but the left, there, it's just I find it ironic that I'm, I mean the left, I'm on the left, it was, but like I find in general, the party that is about inclusivity is incredibly elitist, like, just fucking say, “Join us, yes, come join us, yes.’”
As Silverman was working through her thoughts, Kimmel agreeably muttered, “Yeah. Yeah.”
Kimmel then sought to hedge a little, “But it's not the party, it's not the majority. It's the loud voices that scare people from saying what they believe and make you think twice about a joke or whatever, you know, these things. And, you know, a lot of their points are valid, but a lot of them are also just repulsive. And I mean, they were in that they repel people from, they go like, ‘Oh, you're no fun. I don't want to be around you.’ And I think that if you had to boil it down to, like, one thing, that's kind of what it is. It's like, ‘Oh, you're no fun. I don't want to be part of your group. I don’t like your group. It's not, it's not a relaxed place to be, a place where—”
Political comedy, like most forms of comedy, starts with an observation about the world. The joke comes from a sudden realization that the situation in question is absurd, hypocritical in some way, or allows the joke teller to feel superior to others. Kimmel appears to have made the twin observations that Democrats have an elitism problem and certain progressive activists are extremely off-putting. Yet, you won’t hear him make jokes about this on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Why? Because as Kimmel also said, “a lot of their points are valid.” If voters think Democratic elites spend more time worrying about illegal immigrants than voters or biologically male transgender athletes than their female competitors, then Kimmel is a liberal Hollywood elitist.
Before moving on to talk about Trump, Silverman added, “And people go where they're accepted, where the love is.”
Which is one reason why the late night shows have seen their numbers decline. Conservatives aren’t accepted there, so why would they watch?
Here is a transcript for the August 7 show:
The Sarah Silverman Podcast
8/7/2025
SARAH SILVERMAN: I mean, Republicans know the difference between right and wrong in general, like they know what they're doing. It—something is, I don't know, but the left, there, it's just I find it ironic that I'm, I mean the left, I'm on the left, it was, but like I find in general, the party that is about inclusivity is incredibly elitist—
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah. Yeah.
SILVERMAN: —like, just fucking say “Join us, yes, come join us, yes.”
KIMMEL: But it's not the party, it's not the majority. It's the loud voices that--
SILVERMAN: Yeah, that's true.
KIMMEL: -- scare people from saying what they believe and make you think twice about a joke or whatever, you know, these things. And, you know, a lot of their points are valid, but a lot of them are also just repulsive. And I mean, they were in that they repel people from, they go like, “Oh, you're no fun. I don't want to be around you.” And I think that if you had to boil it down to, like, one thing, that's kind of what it is. It's like, “Oh, you're no fun. I don't want to be part of your group.”
SILVERMAN: Yeah.
KIMMEL: “I don't like your group. It's not, it's not a relaxed place to be, a place where—”
SILVERMAN: And people go where they're accepted, where the love is.
