Jimmy Kimmel took a shot at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in his monologue earlier this week, and now the freshman congresswoman says she filed a report with the Capitol Police.
The joke that Greene took umbrage with involved a questionable sentiment she had tweeted the day before, accusing the Republican senators who voted for President Biden’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, of being “pro-pedophile.” This has become a popular talking point among far-right Republicans who argue that Jackson showed too much leniency towards child predators in her sentencing track record.
In making fun of Greene, Kimmel evoked the Will Smith Oscars slapping incident.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene, this … Klan mom, is especially upset with the three Republican senators who said they’ll vote yes on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is nominated for the Supreme Court,” the host said on Tuesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. She tweeted, ‘Murkowski, Collins, and Romney are pro-pedophile. They just voted for #KBJ.’ Wow, where is Will Smith when you really need him, huh?”
Whether or not it was the most clever joke is certainly debatable. But was it tantamount to a threat? Well … Greene seems to think so.
“ABC, this threat of violence against me by [Jimmy Kimmel] has been filed with the Capitol Police,” the 47-year-old tweeted Wednesday evening.
Rolling with the punches, so to speak, Kimmel quickly responded. “Officer? I would like to report a joke,” he quipped, retweeting Greene.
The rest of Twitter also had some fun with Greene’s tweet, using it to point out some of her various examples of hypocrisy.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene, who voted against awarding Capitol Police with congressional gold medals, is now asking for help from Capitol Police because Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about her,” tweeted the No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen podcast. “Cannot make this up.”
“The supposed free speech absolutist runs to the Capitol Police after Jimmy Kimmel makes a ‘where’s Will Smith when you need him’ joke,” wrote political commentator Ron Filipkowski, adding a snowflake emoji.
Meanwhile, liberal Twitter personality Tony Posnanski mocked Greene’s infamous “gazpacho” incident.
If Greene did indeed file a police report, it will be interesting to see how the jurisdiction plays out, given that both Kimmel and Smith live on the west coast and any threat of slapping is literally thousands of miles away.