Popular American TV show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel has ended up embroiled in a verbal feud with US Republican House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene after he made a joke about her.
According to Rolling Stone, said feud started when Kimmel branded her as a "Klan mom" on his show, slamming the congresswoman over her being "upset with the three Republican senators who said they’ll vote yes on Ketanji Brown Jackson, who’s nominated for the Supreme Court".
"She tweeted, ‘Murkowski, Collins, and Romney are pro-pedophile. They just voted for KBJ.’ Wow, where is Will Smith when you really need him?" Kimmel said, apparently referring to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards last month.
Shortly afterwards, Greene tweeted a clip from Kimmel’s show featuring said remark, and declared in the post that “this threat of violence” against her has been filed with the Capitol Police.
"Officer? I would like to report a joke," Kimmel quipped in response, to which Greene retorted: "You weren’t joking. You hide your misogyny and your racism behind your 'jokes' on @ABC."
"This was a dog whistle to the violent left to assault me or worse, and your already inspiring fantasies of violence against me," she continued. "How many new death threats will I get that are your fans?"
In a separate tweet, Greene also claimed that Kimmel’s fans called her office "in direct response" to him "inciting physical violence" against her.
"It’s not a joke," she added. "You knew exactly what you were doing. @ABC and their parent company @WaltDisneyCo should not allow your misogyny & threats of violence."
The tweet also featured audio recording of what appear to be the calls referenced by Greene.