Jimmy Kimmel on Monday night criticized President Donald Trump’s response to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, saying the president’s emphasis on construction at the White House suggested “something wrong” in how he was mourning.
Kimmel noted that when Trump was asked how he was holding up after Kirk’s death, the president replied, “very good,” then shifted to talking about the start of construction on a new ballroom at the White House. Kimmel said that pattern — rapidly changing subjects and focusing on the ballroom — amounted to what he termed “the fourth stage of grief: Construction.”
The late-night host rolled footage showing a separate interview in which Trump again veered into a tangent about the ballroom while discussing Kirk. “There’s something wrong with him, there really is,” Kimmel said on air. “Who thinks like that?” Kimmel also questioned whether the president’s emphasis on the ballroom could be intended to steer public attention away from other controversies, asking on camera, “Is it possible that he’s doing it intentionally so we can be mad about that instead of the Epstein list?”
Kimmel characterized Kirk as someone Trump had called a friend while noting that the activist was shot and killed last week at an event in Utah. The host framed his monologue around what he described as an unusual and childlike way for an adult to mourn, saying, “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Kimmel’s segment aired as part of his regular late-night monologue and was reported by multiple outlets. The comments reflect the growing scrutiny of public figures’ remarks in the aftermath of high-profile violent incidents. Trump’s remarks about the White House ballroom and his broader response were highlighted by Kimmel as the central contrast to expectations for a presidential expression of grief.
The shooting that killed Kirk prompted local and national coverage; details of the investigation and the circumstances of the shooting were still developing as media organizations reported on the aftermath. Kimmel’s critique joins a broader conversation in broadcast media about how leaders and public figures respond to tragedy and the ways televised commentary interprets those responses.