Jimmy Kimmel Defends Tucker Carlson’s TV Show: ‘I Want to Know Where People Are Coming From’
Here’s one you might not expect from Jimmy Kimmel: The nightly slayer of conservatives and right-leaning commentators believes there’s value in “Tucker Carlson Tonight” being on the air.“No, I don’t think we should cancel Tucker Carlson,” the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host said on the Thursday episode of the New York Times’ podcast “Sway” with Kara Swisher, who asked him outright whether “Tucker Carlson Tonight” should be run off TV.Kimmel’s arguably unexpected free-speech advocacy certainly came with a whopping load of caveats, however — after all, Carlson, the entire Fox News lineup, and conservatives in general are regular fodder for his nightly monologue.“If you don’t like Tucker Carlson, you should not buy the products that are advertised on his show,” Kimmel continued. “And if you feel like writing a letter to those companies, you should write a letter to them. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to shut people up, because I want to know where people are coming from.