ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel isn’t just a Democratic donor and fundraiser. He is also a self-described protestor. On his Tuesday show, Kimmel reported that he attended an anti-ICE rally over the weekend and hyped several of the signs he saw, including one that called President Trump a “Super callous fragile racist sexist Nazi POTUS.”
Kimmel began by teeing up a clip of Trump, “Over the weekend, you know, millions of Americans took part in anti-ICE protests all across the country. These were concerned citizens peacefully and passionately expressing their opposition to the crimes being committed against our neighbors. But Donald Trump, even though there are millions of us, continues to claim the protesters are being paid.”
Jimmy Kimmel isn't just a Democratic donor, he's a protest attendee too. Last night he hyped some signs at an anti-ICE protest he went to, including one that called Trump "Super callus fragile racist sexist Nazi POTUS." pic.twitter.com/A7LuK7eaPm
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) February 4, 2026
In the video, Trump declared:
It's really insurrectionists and agitators, and they're paid. And you can tell a lot of reasons. Number one, they're professionals, you know, with their mouth. But they’re also—you look at the signs. The signs are all professionally made. They have signs that are gorgeous. In fact, I want to get the sign because I'm a big—I need a lot of signs for different things. And I want to find out whoever does their signs. They do a beautiful job. You know, everybody has this beautiful sign with brand new wood. It's like leather panels. A leather handle.
After quipping that Trump sounded “like he’s describing a Bentley or something,” Kimmel returned to his recent protesting experience:
I was at the protests in LA this weekend. We made our signs out of poster board and magic markers. I didn't see anything that was professionally made. I didn't see anyone getting paid. But I did see a lot of creativity with signs like ‘I missed the Melania movie to come to this.’ ‘The only ICE I like is the ice my two gay boyfriends skate on.’ ‘Tom Homan looks like a canned ham.’ ‘Super callous fragile racist sexist Nazi POTUS.’ This one is from Minneapolis, ‘Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to dismantle this thing called ICE.’ And our son Billy came up with a good idea. ‘Stop taking away people.’ Then he added a threat to the sign. ‘I'm gonna stop putting ice on my drinks.’
On Monday’s show, Kimmel interviewed Don Lemon after he was arrested for his role in the St. Paul church invasion. Yet somehow, Kimmel did not care to learn that of Lemon’s eight co-defendants, at least three of them—Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Allen, and Georgia Fort—have a history of being paid by various activist groups.
Then there is the issue of late night comedy’s obsession with ICE and Nazi analogies. While this one was directed at Trump and not ICE per se, it is still related to immigration enforcement and happened at an anti-ICE event. While the comedians continue to use their shows for their own personal agendas, many will ask why late night seems to be on an irreversible downward slope, and the answer will have been right in front of them all along.
Here is a transcript for the February 3 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2/3/2026
11:43 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Over the weekend, you know, millions of Americans took part in anti-ICE protests all across the country. These were concerned citizens peacefully and passionately expressing their opposition to the crimes being committed against our neighbors. But Donald Trump, even though there are millions of us, continues to claim the protesters are being paid.
DONALD TRUMP: It's really insurrectionists and agitators, and they're paid. And You can tell a lot of reasons. Number one, they're professionals, you know, with their mouth. But they’re also—you look at the signs. The signs are all professionally made. They have signs that are gorgeous. In fact, I want to get the sign because I'm a big—I need a lot of signs for different things. And I want to find out whoever does their signs. They do a beautiful job. You know, everybody has this beautiful sign with brand new wood. It's like leather panels. A leather handle.
KIMMEL: He does have an active imagination, I mean. It's brand new wood, leather panels, leather—It’s like he's describing a Bentley or something. Power steering, surround sound, beautiful signs.
I was at the protests in LA this weekend. We made our signs out of poster board and magic markers. I didn't see anything that was professionally made. I didn't see anyone getting paid. But I did see a lot of creativity with signs like "I missed the Melania movie to come to this." "The only ICE I like is the ice my two gay boyfriends skate on." "Tom Homan looks like a canned ham." "Super callous fragile racist sexist Nazi POTUS." This one is from Minneapolis, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to dismantle this thing called ICE." And our son Billy came up with a good idea. "Stop taking away people." Then he added a threat to the sign. "I'm gonna stop putting ice on my drinks."
