ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel may have the week off on TV, but that didn’t stop him from repeating one of his favorite lines about supporters of President Trump’s agenda being bad Christians and wondering how they can go to church. This time the conversation revolved around deporting illegal immigrants and took place on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast that was released on Wednesday but taped before Kimmel got himself suspended for remarks about the political affiliation of Charlie Kirk’s assassin.
Actor and host Ted Danson gushed over his guest, “And then the courage you have to take on things that are just wrong and people, some of us, you know, are trying to look the other way. And you look directly at it, and you go after it, whether it's this administration or what. And that courage is really admirable. I really admire you.”
Kimmel thanked Danson for the sentiment while adding, “It especially bothers me, you know, being brought up Catholic in a very positive Catholic environment that Christianity is — has been co-opted and perverted in such a way, and that I find especially upsetting, and that I think about what Jesus would think of this stuff, you know, and I mean, seems pretty plain that he wouldn't think it's great that he wouldn't approve of nannies being yanked out of the park and thrust into a van to be returned to their home countries because their paperwork is not in order.”
As Kimmel invoked Jesus to defend his position, he did so with a rather unbiblical analogy, “A lot of people who are watching that show [The Ellen DeGeneres Show] in the Midwest, maybe didn't know somebody who was openly gay. Right. And so they are against gay marriage. They see it as, you know, against their religion or whatever for whatever reason, and they're against it. But then they get to know somebody like Ellen, and they go, ‘Well, she seems okay.’ And then they say, ‘Well, now I feel like I have a friend who's—or, you know, one of their children comes out, and they suddenly have a different perspective on that.”
Kimmel then dishonestly claimed, “It seems like the perspective— this like ‘we've got to stop the immigrants’ are coming from places that don't have a lot of them, you know.”
He should try telling that to the border communities. Still, Kimmel returned to the idea that supporting immigration enforcement makes you a bad Christian, “I know a lot of people who came to this country illegally, if you want to call it that, and who are great people and who not only are they not a drain on our society, they're contributing a great deal to our society. Even if you look at this issue selfishly, which I think a lot of people do, you know, even if you look at it selfishly, it does not make sense to kick these people out. Besides the fact that it's just, like, how can you go to church on Sunday and think this is okay to do to these families, to do to these people, and to be so cold about it.”
Kimmel also had a rather odd claim where he suggested that the people who employ illegal immigrants and pay them under the table are the same people who argue that what illegal immigrants pay in sales taxes does not outweigh what they take out in welfare: “Whether you want to believe it or not, they are paying taxes. You know, everything that they buy is taxed. And anybody who's not paying them in the proper way is part of the, you know, of whatever the problem is. Like, if you choose not to pay regular income tax, you know, Social Security tax to your employees or whatever, you have no right to say you need to be out of this country. I mean, it's hypocritical. It's anti-everything that I personally believe. It's heartless. It's cruel. More than anything, it's just cruel and I just don’t get it.”
If you are claiming that supporting immigration enforcement makes you a bad Christian and your analogy is same-sex marriage, it signifies that you are actually the one trying to twist the Bible to fit your agenda.
Here is a transcript for the October 22 show:
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
10/22/2025
TED DANSON: And then the courage you have to take on things that are just wrong and people, some of us, you know, are trying to look the other way. And you look directly at it, and you go after it, whether it's this administration or what. And that courage is really admirable. I really admire you.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. I don't think of it as courage. I think of it as just obvious. I think of it as having really no choice but to talk about these things and to say these things. You know, just the way I was brought up, I think it makes perfect sense. It especially bothers me, you know, being brought up Catholic in a very positive Catholic environment that Christianity is—
DANSON: Something else now.
KIMMEL: — has been co-opted and perverted in such a way, and that I find especially upsetting, and that I think about what Jesus would think of this stuff, you know, and I mean, seems pretty plain that he wouldn't think it's great that he wouldn't approve of nannies being yanked out of the park and thrust into a van to be returned to their home countries—
DANSON: Yeah.
KIMMEL: because their paperwork is not in order.
…
KIMMEL: And you know, it's interesting when you know people, when you get to know people, like for instance, like when Ellen came on television—
DANSON: Right.
KIMMEL: — most people in the Midwest, I shouldn't say this, but there — a lot of people who are watching that show in the Midwest, maybe didn't know somebody who was openly gay. Right.
DANSON: Right.
KIMMEL: And so they are against gay marriage. They see it as, you know, against their religion or whatever for whatever reason, and they're against it. But then they get to know somebody like Ellen, and they go, "Well, she seems okay." And then they say, "Well, now I feel like I have a friend who's—” or, you know, one of their children comes out, and they suddenly have a different perspective on that.
It seems like the perspective— this like "we've got to stop the immigrants" are coming from places that don't have a lot of them, you know. I mean, I know for me and grow living here in L.A. for the last 30-something years I know a lot of people who came to this country illegally, if you want to call it that, and who are great people and who not only are they not a drain on our society, they're contributing a great deal to our society.
I mean, even if you look at this issue selfishly, which I think a lot of people do, you know, even if you look at it selfishly, it does not make sense to kick these people out. Besides the fact that it's just, like, how can you go to church on Sunday and think this is okay to do to these families, to do to these people, and to be so cold about it and for there to be— now, listen okay I get it there's there are things you know I would understand if I'm an immigrant who followed all the rules and came into this country and, you know, jumped through all the hoops that I might be somewhat resentful of somebody who, you know, snuck in in some way or whatever, but you know, people are just looking for better lives.
They're just trying to improve their lives for their families, for themselves. They come here, they work hard. They— whether you want to believe it or not, they are paying taxes. You know, everything that they buy is taxed. And anybody who's not paying them in the proper way is part of the, you know, of whatever the problem is. Like, if you choose not to pay regular income tax, you know, Social Security tax to your employees or whatever, you have no right to say you need to be out of this country. I mean, it's hypocritical. It's anti-everything that I personally believe. It's heartless. It's cruel. More than anything, it's just cruel and I just don’t get it.
