Jimmy Kimmel increases security at show due to Trump supporters

Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)

Oct. 02--Jimmy Kimmel is learning that there are consequences to getting political -- even if it's for a worthy cause.

Ever since the late-night show host began crusading against the effort by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, there have been "incidents with Trump supporters" that have forced him to increase security at his show tapings.

Sources close "Jimmy Kimmel Live" tell the website The Blast that the comedian has had some issues with protestors who don't appreciate his criticism of Trump and his support of Obamacare. In response to protesters, the show has increased personnel at both the front and back entrances. This personnel consists of highly-trained, off-duty police officers.

In addition to the protesters, several "concerning" emails and letters have also been sent to the production, The Blast said.

A representative for the show has yet to comment on the report.

Salon notes that Kimmel's campaign against GOP health care proposals may have struck conservatives as particularly jarring given that he hasn't been previously known for advocating progressive causes.

Such advocacy has been the domain of Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah, while Kimmel's humor has been defined as known as more apolitical and "everyman," Salon said.

In fact, he flouts political correctness, has boasted of his nonpartisanship, and he uses his "dudebro" humor to tease groups that are some of the favorite targets of conservatives, including the Hollywood elite.

A 2015 survey commissioned by The Hollywood Reporter, and cited by Salon, showed that Kimmel's fans split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. "If you had to declare one host the quasi-conservative in the left-leaning late-night landscape, it would have to be Kimmel," Salon said.

Kimmel decided to get political in his monologues after his son, Billy, was born this spring with a rare congenital heart defect and needed emergency surgery. Kimmel noted that his son now had a pre-existing condition that wouldn't necessarily be covered under GOP proposals.

In the midst of the GOP's third push for Obamacare repeal, Kimmel said, "By the way, before you post a nasty Facebook message saying I'm politicizing my son's health problems, I want you to know, I am politicizing my son's health problems."

Kimmel's campaign to save the Affordable Care Act was arguably decisive in the ongoing debate, encouraging millions of people around the country to contact their representatives in Congress, Salon said.

But it may also have been decisive in alienating some of his conservative viewers, with Salon saying that "Jimmy Kimmel Live" had 2.04 million viewers last week during the heart of his health care fight, a 5 percent drop from his average.

___

Visit the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.) at www.eastbaytimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.