Jimmy Kimmel Is Just Another Benghazi, Says John Fugelsang
The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel is “all about Benghazi to me,” comedian and pundit John Fugelsang tells me while we discuss his new book, Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds.
How exactly did a late-night host become Benghazi?
“Benghazi was our Republican friends exploiting a murder to attack the people they already hated,” Fugelsang explained. “First with Benghazi, they tried to take out Susan Rice. Then they used it against Barack Obama for the 2012 election. Then they used it for four years against Hillary Clinton and dropped the issue completely the day Trump was sworn in and never mentioned Benghazi again. You ask your average Republican about that. They don’t know the names of those four men. They don’t need them anymore. They were no longer useful.”
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The firestorm around Charlie Kirk and Jimmy Kimmel is “tragically the same exact thing,” Fugelsang explains, with the comic’s monologue providing an opening for chaos. “Kimmel’s two comments leading into it were that MAGA was spending all weekend hoping this guy wasn’t one of theirs. And that’s true. And then MAGA was trying to blame everybody else. And that’s true as well. He said nothing about Mr. Kirk. He didn’t make fun of the death or the tragedy.”
But political interests saw Kimmel’s comments as an opportunity to fan the flames, including the FCC chairman, Fugelsang said. “Brendan Carr's wanted this for a long time. He’s a Project 2025 guy. This has been their dream.”
However, at least for now, the plan to turn Kimmel into the latest Benghazi has backfired. “The problem is they’re messy and they’re stupid and they’re sloppy,” Fugelsang says about Carr’s appearance on Benny Johnson’s podcast. The FCC head was “saying the quiet part out loud and essentially threatening Disney with blackmail on camera.”
Bad move, Fugelsang argues. The backlash, including streaming subscription cancellations and public outcry, forced Disney’s hand, and Kimmel is back with record ratings. And instead of an inflection point, Carr turned Kimmel into a champion of free speech.
Kimmel “will probably have a show that lasts much longer than it would have ordinarily,” Fugelsang predicts. “He’s guaranteed to be a free speech hero. He’s going in the Library of Congress. When he’s 80, he’ll get the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
The threats to silence comedians and other voices of dissent “gave a lot of Republicans an excuse to start putting space between themselves and Donald Trump,” Fugelsang says. Indeed, Kimmel took time in his monologue to thank “Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz,” for defending the right to free speech.
“All they achieved here,” Fugelsang says, “was Donald Trump saved Jimmy Kimmel’s show.”
