Jimmy Kimmel has delivered an emotional monologue in the wake of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers were shot and killed earlier this week.
“If your solution to children being massacred is armed guards, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on,” said a visibly upset Kimmel. “There was an armed guard in Buffalo. There was an armed guard in Parkland. There was an armed guard in Uvalde. They had armed guards. There were police officers armed on the scene. And these murders still happen.”
Noting that the U.S. has both a mental health problem and a gun problem, Kimmel urged for both of these issues to be addressed, and noted the effectiveness of gun control laws in numerous other countries. He also turned his attention to the inaction of America’s elective representatives, though stressed that the public also has a role to play in forcing change.
“This is not their fault anymore. This is now our fault,” said Kimmel. “Because we get angry, we demand action, we don’t get it, they wait it out, we go back to the lives that we should rightfully be able to go back to. But you know who doesn’t forget it? The parents of the children at Sandy Hook, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and now Robb Elementary School. They won’t forget it.”
Kimmel ended his monologue with a super cut of politicians proudly showing off guns, speaking in defense of guns, and loosening gun laws, all interspersed with news reports of multiple mass shootings. These politicians included Texan governor Greg Abbott and Texan senator Ted Cruz.
“So if you care about this — and we all do, it doesn’t matter what party we vote for, we all care about this — we need to make sure that, unless they do something drastic, let’s make sure that not one of any of these politicians ever holds office again,” said Kimmel.
