‘Ruthless’: Kimmel Joke Normalizes Trump Assassination Attempts
The Fellas deliver hard truths to ABC's far-left host, comedy culture
The Fellas don’t bruise easily.
The four “Ruthless” hosts have all done their time in the political trenches. They don’t clutch many pearls like some podcasters, and they’re quick to laugh about the latest inside-the-Beltway tomfoolery.
There’s something very journo about stealing a $12… on camera… after a live shooter has shut your event down.
Stay classy, DC.
Watch @HolmesJosh, @ComfortablySmug, @MichaelDuncan and @JohnAshbrook with some first-hand WHCD analysis – link in replies. pic.twitter.com/NRfgpxTdY6
— Ruthless Podcast (@RuthlessPodcast) April 28, 2026
Yet the quartet – John Ashbrook, Josh Holmes, Michael Duncan and the man known as Comfortably Smug – still excoriated Jimmy Kimmel for his recent Trump assassination yuks.
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The podcasters replayed the now-infamous clip Tuesday in which Jimmy Kimmel said First Lady Melania Trump has the “glow of an expectant widow.”
Duncan noticed the laughter that ensued, recalling how other late-night audiences have similarly egged on political violence. He recalled “The Late Show” crowd yukking it up when Stephen Colbert mentioned Tesla dealerships coming under attack during the early days of Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative.
Other hard-Left showcases, like “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show,” also featured in-studio fans who howled over real-world violence. And it all came from the Left.
“You get the sense that the audience now for these shows does agree with violence,” Duncan said. “They like it.”
Editor’s Note: It’s a brutal time to be an independent journalist, but it’s never been more necessary given the sorry state of the corporate press. If you’re enjoying Hollywood in Toto, I hope you’ll consider leaving a coin (or two) in our Tip Jar.
“It’s incredible to me that if you mainstream and normalize assassinations of the president of the United States, which is what [Kimmel’s joke] is,” Holmes said. “Don’t make any mistake. That’s not like a flippant comment or joke or whatever. I’m all for the edgiest humor you can possibly find. But when it’s consistently partisan and edging on assassinating a president, I don’t care if it’s Republican or Democrat, I really don’t … you’re in a different ballgame.”
“A critical part of this whole story is the media environment and the political environment [which] is only towards one direction on this,” Smug said. “Imagine if you’re a late-night host, and you crack a joke about, ‘boy, wouldn’t it be funny if somebody assassinated Obama.’ Your career is over.”
Duncan noted the 2013 case of a rodeo clown who, while wearing a Barack Obama mask, invited an angry bull to take a run at him. Said clown earned a lifetime ban from the rodeo, plus national media condemnation.
“It became national news because it was disrespectful to the President of the United States, ” Duncan said of the skit. “Think about that. It wasn’t that long ago.”
The Kimmel crack was far worse, as the Fellas see it.
Kimmel’s comments are “agenda-based, but they’re also as corrosive as s***,” Holmes said.
UPDATE: Kimmel doubled down on pushing assassination rhetoric against President Trump. He described the ghoulish beach message former FBI head James Comey shared against the world leader – 86-47 – “a piece of art your aunt with a beach house would buy on Etsy.”
The number “86” has several uses and meanings, but one involves the removal of an item or, in this case, a person.
Kimmel’s jokes are borne out of hatred, animosity, and rancor. He and others learned nothing from Don Rickles.
It’s easy to become over-zealous to silence these guys, mostly because when Kimmel makes a joke about the death of Trump, we know too many have expressed a very real desire for this. Let’s not forget, of course, the troubled few who have ACTED OUT ON IT. To say Kimmel’s joke is not funny is obvious. As an ardent and unapologetic supporter of free speech (who loathes censorship), I think that Kimmel should be fired. I see no contradiction. We will know exactly who ABC is on the basis of what they do next.
Color me jaded but let’s say that if I were a late night host and quipped “The Meathead got a meat cleaver” about Rob Reiner, I don’t think I’d get the guffaws or invocation of the First Amendment that homunculus Kimmel got.
If anything, these Hate Night TV shows are making assassination culture ten times worse, especially with an audience that act like heartless goblins. And of course Jimmy Kimmel is the biggest culprit of it, and the most evil celebrity to keep pushing it.