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pedophile, suggested he is connected to Jeffrey Epstein and involved in a coverup, called him a rapist and accused him of protecting pedophiles, coming after voting rights, enriching billionaires while harming the poor, and manipulating the system to evade accountability.

That is not “normal political speech.” It is speech that turns a political opponent into a movie villain — a figure so corrupt and monstrous that extreme action begins to feel righteous.

This kind of conspiratorial framing has a track record. It fuels ugly episodes of modern political violence: a steady stream of baseless accusations designed to convince audiences that the other side is not merely wrong but evil.

If someone eventually acts on that belief, we shouldn’t pretend it came out of nowhere.

So should Kimmel be fired?

Firing him for the Melania joke would be punishing the wrong offense. A tasteless, bad joke is not the central issue.

The central issue is rhetoric that treats political opponents as criminals without proof, assigns monstrous motives without evidence, and creates a cultural climate where violence feels justified.

If America wants to lower the temperature, scrutiny should be directed at conspiratorial storytelling that teaches people to hate.

Ben Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and cofounder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author. To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2026 CREATORS. COM