“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” guest host Ike Barinholtz opened Monday’s show with jokes about the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, using the moment to poke at the risk of another on-air backlash.
Barinholtz’s comments came with an obvious edge. He joked that the situation created “so many opportunities to get Jimmy’s show pulled off the air again,” a nod to the controversy that followed Kimmel’s temporary suspension after he mocked the death of conservative activist and TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Barinholtz leans into the controversy
During the monologue, Barinholtz said, “What a crazy weekend,” before adding, “Mitch McConnell is alive, Lindsey Graham is dead. There’s so many opportunities to get Jimmy’s show pulled off the air again. They’re gonna pull it off!”
He then turned to Guillermo Rodriguez, joking as if Kimmel’s sidekick and Graham had been close friends. Barinholtz said, “Guillermo, I know you and him were close friends,” and added that Rodriguez had hosted fundraisers for Graham at the Dave & Busters in Charleston.
Rodriguez played along and replied, “Maybe later on. Maybe later on. I’ll do it later on, yeah, yeah,” before Barinholtz told the audience, “Later on. He’s emotional, folks. He’s emotional.”
Why the joke landed with extra tension
The comments were first noted by NewsBusters’ Alex Christy, and they arrived after Kimmel had already faced backlash over jokes tied to Kirk’s death. Barinholtz appeared to be referencing that earlier suspension while pushing the joke further.
Graham died Saturday night at 71. An autopsy performed on Sunday suggested he died from an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
His death stunned Washington, in part because Graham was one of the Senate’s most active members and had been scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning.
McConnell’s health became part of the joke
Barinholtz also folded Sen. Mitch McConnell into the monologue after McConnell had been absent from the Senate for weeks following a health scare. On Sunday, McConnell said in a statement that doctors confirmed he did not break any bones, suffer a concussion, have a heart attack or a stroke, and did not have tumors or hemorrhages.
Barinholtz then joked, “In all seriousness, though, I do want to extend well-wishes to Senator McConnell. I hope you get the quality healthcare you’ve fought so hard to deny everyone else. Pulling for you, Mitch!”
Fox News Digital reached out to McConnell’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
What Kimmel’s show has been dealing with
The episode also recalled the temporary suspension Kimmel faced after his remarks about Kirk’s death drew backlash. The setup made Barinholtz’s jokes feel less like a routine monologue and more like a deliberate test of how far the show could push the line.
In June, Kimmel announced that vocal Trump critic Rosie O’Donnell would be one of the guest hosts during his summer break. The show’s guest-host rotation has now become part of a larger conversation about how it handles politically charged material.
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