Late night comedians Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert mocked those protesting restrictive stay-at-home orders across the country.
Protests have popped up in 20 states as some urge lawmakers to reopen state economies and start the recovery process from the coronavirus pandemic. A number of the demonstrations have included people carrying weapons while failing to comply with the social distancing guidelines that have been in place for weeks.
The two comedians generalized the protesters as Trump supporters on their shows recently and said that President Trump’s tweets encouraging residents in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia to “liberate” themselves were likely responsible for the rallies.
Kimmel on Monday night called the comments from the president “irresponsible to the most unbelievable degree,” before adding that he’s “starting to think that these characters who support Trump might be suicidal.”
“They seem to fight hardest for the things that will kill them,” he said. “They want freedom to gather in large groups during an epidemic. They want guns. They want pollution. I figured it out: They want to die, and they’re taking us down with them.”
Colbert made similar remarks on an episode of his show last week, sarcastically arguing that the “angry Trump supporters” must have “convinced the legislators.”
“You know, the medical data doesn’t back up an early reopen, but I did hear some sound policy ideas from lady flag-screamer and guy-in-a-Purge-mask,” he explained, before joking about the “Lock her up!” chants directed at Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during protests in Lansing.
“Lock her up! Wait, never mind! It’s safer inside! Make her go out! Lock me up! Inside my house! But first, I need some eggs!” he quipped.
