ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel took a shot at Republicans and conservatives on Saturday, saying that most talk-show hosts are "liberal" because the job "requires a level of intelligence."
Kimmel made the comment during a live taping of the left-wing "Pod Save America" podcast, hosted by former communications aides to President Barack Obama, at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
Emily Black Favreau—wife of one of the podcast's co-hosts, former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau—was in the audience and quoted Kimmel on Twitter as saying, "It just so happens that almost every talk-show host is a liberal and that's because it requires a level of intelligence."
"It just so happens that almost every talk show host is a liberal and that’s because it requires a level of intelligence" - @jimmykimmel @PodSaveAmerica live pic.twitter.com/yNKbpzVNUp
— Emily Black Favreau (@ebfavs) February 4, 2018
Favreau's tweet received a wave of backlash from conservatives attacking Kimmel, prompting Jon Favreau to defend the late-night host and say that he "was of course kidding."
"He was of course kidding when he said it, which the entire room got right away. No bigger snowflakes than the crowd that yells about snowflakes," Favreau tweeted.
He was of course kidding when he said it, which the entire room got right away.
No bigger snowflakes than the crowd that yells about snowflakes. https://t.co/AeppIary7H
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) February 4, 2018
Kimmel has often used social media and his late-night show to push liberal policies and attack the Trump administration. The Daily Beast reported in September that Kimmel had coordinated with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) for months to oppose Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare.
During the Obamacare repeal debate, Kimmel called Republican Sen. John Kennedy (La.) an "inbred" and said months later that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) does not have a soul.
Kimmel has also been an outspoken advocate for gun control, slamming the "crazies" who have criticized him for his anti-gun monologues.