Blackish star Anthony Anderson guest hosted ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live following the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Monday evening but even as he made a show of pleading to lower the temperature of political rhetoric, only minutes later he dove right for the race card to attack Trump’s vice presidential running mate, J.D. Vance.
Anderson opened his monologue at the top of the show by remarking about how odd it was that he would be tasked with hosting the late-night show on the tail of such a terrible attack on the life of a leading candidate for president.
“All weekend, I kept thinking, ‘I wonder what Jimmy Kimmel is going to say about this on Monday?’ And then I was like, oh, I am Jimmy Kimmel on Monday,” he joked, according to Variety.
He then went on to plead for less “vitriol” in political rhetoric, adding, “hopefully this will be a moment that we can all take a step back from the hatred and vitriol in our politics and maybe chill the fuck out.”
The Law & Order cast member also joked about the crazy conspiracy theories from the left that claim the assassination attempt was somehow staged. “If you want to maintain your sanity during this crazy time, do not go on the internet,” he told the audience, before referencing the left’s “Blue-Anon” conspiracy movement.
But even though Anderson pleaded for lowing the rhetorical temperature in politics today, he also threw the race card at Sen. J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s newly announced vice-presidential running mate.
The actor who has made a living out of focusing on race accused Vance of having no qualifications to run for vice president other than being white.
“Vance has everything that Trump is looking for in a running mate,” Anderson exclaimed. “He’s white. He’s…well, that’s pretty much it. He also looks like Eric and Don Jr. had a baby.”
Of course, J.D. Vance has led a far more noble life than Anthony Anderson. He survived an abusive childhood in a broken home and rose above his humble beginnings by joining the U.S Marine Corps in 2003 where he earned a list of medals including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, during tours in Iraq.
He then went on to graduate from Yale Law School after his service in the Marines and then wrote the best-selling book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which shined a much-needed light on the opioid epidemic in Appalachia. In 2020, his book was turned into a movie directed by Ron Howard and starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close.
From there he ran a successful first-time campaign for the U.S. Senate from his home state in Ohio.
As for Anthony, he has been investigated multiple times for sexual assault between 2004 and 2018. And was ordered by a Los Angeles court to relinquish his firearms in a divorce case in 2023.
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