Jimmy Kimmel slams Caitlyn Jenner as an 'ignorant a--hole' over comments about California's homeless population inconveniencing her wealthy friend
- Jimmy Kimmel called Caitlyn Jenner an "ignorant a--hole" on his show Thursday night.
- Kimmel took issue with Jenner's comments about the unhoused population in California.
- Jenner said a friend of hers was leaving the state because of people who are homeless.
Jimmy Kimmel slammed Caitlyn Jenner over comments she made on Fox News about people who are homeless in California.
Jenner, who is running for governor in California, told Sean Hannity earlier this week that her wealthy friends were leaving California because of the state's homeless population.
She specifically cited a friend who she said was "packing up his hangar" at an airport.
"The guy right across, he was packing up his hangar," Jenner said. "And he says, 'I'm moving to Sedona, Arizona. I can't take it anymore. I can't walk down the streets and see the homeless.'"
Critics of Jenner on social media called the comments tone-deaf, and Kimmel echoed that sentiment on Thursday night's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
"Is it transphobic to call a trans person an ignorant asshole?" Kimmel asked after airing a clip of Jenner's interview.
"Or does calling that trans person an ignorant asshole - even though she happens to be a trans person - show that we don't discriminate against ignorant assholes, no matter their gender orientation? It's a tough one," he added. "I don't know. I guess we'll let the internet decide tomorrow."
Jenner, a longtime Republican, announced her run for governor of California in April as part of the recall election against Gavin Newsom, the Democratic incumbent. Wednesday's interview with Hannity on Fox News was her first major TV interview since the announcement of her candidacy.
"This state has done so much for me over the years," she told Hannity. "But I've watched it crumble right before my eyes. California's worth fighting for, and that's what I'm doing."
A video of Jenner discussing her friend packing up the airplane hangar with Hannity trended after it was shared on Twitter by Aaron Rupar, a Vox reporter. The clip has more than 6 million views and was shared widely by reporters, pundits, and other celebrities, including Patricia Arquette and Kathy Griffin.
A talking point in the recall election against Newsom includes the perceived hypocrisy or tone deafness of things like his indoor birthday-dinner celebration at the famed restaurant the French Laundry in November.
Business Insider reported at the time that about a week after the private gathering, Newsom issued an advisory asking state residents to "limit interactions to their immediate household," as California had recently surpassed 1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Politico's Carla Marinucci wrote that Jenner's comments about people who are homeless and personal airplane hangars "raised the more serious question of whether - in one brief moment - the candidate disarmed one of the Republicans' most effective caricatures of the wealthy Democratic governor as a tone-deaf leader who dined at the French Laundry during the pandemic."