President Joe Biden’s Justice Department prosecuted and jailed a meme-maker for making a similar joke that comedian Jimmy Kimmel made during his show on Wednesday night — with less than a week left until the 2024 general election on November 5.
Kimmel, who is openly opposed to former President Donald Trump, suggested on live, broadcast television that Trump voters should wait to vote until Thursday or Friday — two days after the election.
Watch:
Jimmy Kimmel: “If you want to vote for Trump, vote late. Vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday or maybe Friday.” pic.twitter.com/Il1Ch6S0eE
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 31, 2024
“I don’t know if you guys know about this, but we have an election coming up on — I feel pretty relaxed about it and I’ve really been enjoying the week,” Kimmel began from his southern California studio. “In times like this, it is important to remember that cannabis is legal in our state.”
“You have to vote,” he continued. “You can vote early. If you can’t vote early, vote on time. If you want to vote for Trump, vote late, vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday, maybe Friday. This will be my third time voting against Donald Trump — fifth, if you count the two times he was nominated for an Emmy for a reality show host.”
Kimmel went on to cite a CNN poll that said less than one-third of American voters believed Trump would concede if he were to lose the 2024 election. “What would give them that idea? Of course he won’t concede,” Kimmel said.
But as critics quickly noted, Kimmel’s joke mirrored a meme posted by Douglass Mackey ahead of the 2016 election. That meme, sent out to his 58,000 Twitter followers, said that voters could “avoid the line” and vote from home if they would just “text ‘Hillary’ to 59925.” Mackey, who maintained that the meme was “a joke,” was convicted on election interference charges in March of 2023 and sentenced to seven months in prison.
“The Biden Administration sent Douglass Mackey to prison for making this exact joke. I’m dead serious when I say if Trump wins he should have Jimmy Kimmel arrested and jailed. Force these scumbags to live by their own rules,” The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh posted in response.
The Biden Administration sent Douglass Mackey to prison for making this exact joke. I’m dead serious when I say if Trump wins he should have Jimmy Kimmel arrested and jailed. Force these scumbags to live by their own rules. https://t.co/SMHtwwBlAQ
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 31, 2024
“Yo…that’s straight to jail, right!? We lock people up for this. Them’s the rules now,” added “Fox & Friends” cohost Will Cain.
Yo…that’s straight to jail, right!? We lock people up for this. Them’s the rules now. https://t.co/P1Mi9dHfeg
— Will Cain (@willcain) October 31, 2024
“Prison time. I don’t make the rules,” the Dank Knight posted.
Prison time. I don’t make the rules
— The Dank Knight 🦇 (@capeandcowell) October 31, 2024
“Biden’s DOJ put a conservative in prison for this same joke. And that one was just a meme that reached a few hundred. This reaches millions. There are two sets of rules,” he added.
Biden’s DOJ put a conservative in prison for this same joke. And that one was just a meme that reached a few hundred. This reaches millions.
There are two sets of rules https://t.co/gHDAupeYJu
— The Dank Knight 🦇 (@capeandcowell) October 31, 2024
Mackey himself even weighed in on Kimmel’s “joke,” saying, “When I made an election joke, the Deep State used it as a pretext to conduct a fishing expedition against me, subpoenaing all financial records, leases, employment information and pay stubs, and email accounts. Will Jimmy Kimmel enjoy the same?”
When I made an election joke, the Deep State used it as a pretext to conduct a fishing expedition against me, subpoenaing all financial records, leases, employment information and pay stubs, and email accounts.
Will Jimmy Kimmel enjoy the same? https://t.co/uAMI9saL2i
— Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) October 31, 2024
