Jimmy Kimmel, dubbed an “insufferable nonsense propaganda puppet” by Elon Musk earlier this week, has fired back at the Tesla CEO. He said it takes one to know one.
The Emmy-winning late-night host served Musk’s social media shade right back at him on Thursday, poking fun in his opening monologue that “the guy who paid people a million dollars a day to vote for Donald Trump is calling me a propaganda puppet.”
“Listen Kermit, you bought Twitter,” Kimmel slammed Musk. “You bought a social media platform that is literally a propaganda machine.”
Musk, who acquired the social media platform for $44 billion in late 2022, called Kimmel a “propaganda puppet” Thursday morning after the comedian’s post-election monologue on Wednesday went viral. The tech billionaire also expressed similar views on music and entertainment celebrities endorsing “the Kamala puppet” days prior to the election.
In Wednesday’s emotional spiel, Kimmel teared up as he mourned the results of the presidential election and voiced concerns about the implications of another four years under former president Trump, who defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to secure a second term in office.
“It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hard-working immigrants who make this country go, for health care, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech,” Kimmel said in his first post-election show. “It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on Social Security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO and the truth and democracy and decency. And it was a terrible night for everyone who voted against him. And guess what? It was a bad night for everyone who voted for him too. You just don’t realize it yet.”
Kimmel has long been critical of Trump, using his late-night spot to not just poke fun at the president-elect but to also share how the former reality TV star’s policies have impacted his personal life. Kimmel urged viewers in 2020 to consider the Republican Party’s plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would negatively impact people with a pre-existing condition — including his son Billy who lives with a congenital heart condition. On Thursday, Kimmel likened the current political vibe to “standing in the middle of the road waiting for a bus to hit us but it’s still 40 miles away.”
During his opening monologue Kimmel also lambasted Musk for his previous tweets calling media organizations including the Washington Post, New York Times and Associated Press propaganda machines. “AP stands for Associated Propaganda,” Musk had written in a September tweet. Kimmel also poked fun at Musk’s commitment to Trump, citing the president-elect’s Truth Social post from 2022 that painted Musk asdesperate for government subsidies.
“I could have said, ‘drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it,” Trump wrote two years ago.
Musk’s relationship with Trump wasn’t the only one in Kimmel’s cross hairs Thursday. The comedian also took a jab at Musk’s family life. Musk is the father to 12 children from relationships with multiple women. His daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, who is transgender, has spoken out against Musk multiple times. Most recently, Wilson wrote Thursday that her father is a “delusional and grubby little control freak who hasn’t matured as a person for 38 years.”
“At least my children like me,” Kimmel also said Thursday.
