Jimmy Kimmel Fires Back at Elon Musk’s “Propaganda Puppet” Insult
Jimmy Kimmel didn’t pull any punches in his response to Elon Musk’s recent online attack, which came after Kimmel’s emotional monologue about Donald Trump’s election victory.
In his Thursday night show, Kimmel opened with a playful jab: “At least my children like me,” before turning Musk’s own words back on him.
Kimmel’s original monologue, which aired following Trump’s win over Kamala Harris, struck an emotional chord and quickly went viral. Musk, however, wasn’t pleased, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to label Kimmel as an “insufferable nonsense propaganda puppet.”
The late-night host wasted no time hitting back, saying, “Last night, I shared some of my thoughts and feelings about what happened and how much I’m gonna miss democracy… and I heard from a lot of people, but none more prominent than the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who tweeted this morning, ‘Kimmel is an insufferable nonsense propaganda puppet.’”
Kimmel then quipped, “At least my children like me,” before launching into a critique of Musk’s comments. “The guy who paid people $1 million a day to vote for Donald Trump is calling me a propaganda puppet? Listen, Kermit, you bought Twitter—a social media platform that is literally a propaganda machine,” he joked, playfully mocking Musk’s name.
He continued, “If I spent two weeks trying to come up with a four-word description of Elon Musk, I don’t think I could do better than ‘insufferable nonsense propaganda puppet.’” Kimmel also poked fun at Musk’s habit of labeling anything he disagrees with as “propaganda,” referencing past comments Musk made about the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, and the Associated Press.
Kimmel didn’t stop there. He also pulled up a post from Trump’s Truth Social account, where the former president had recalled Musk’s visit to the White House. Trump claimed Musk repeatedly asked for help with his government-subsidized projects, including electric cars, driverless vehicles, and “rocketships to nowhere.” Trump also noted that Musk had told him he was a “big Trump fan and Republican,” adding, “I could have said, ‘Drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it.”
Kimmel quickly riffed on that: “You know what he means by beg… I’m sure his little hand will fit nicely in your sock hole.”
As of now, Musk has yet to respond to Kimmel’s latest remarks.