Jimmy Kimmel Vs. Aaron Rodgers Exemplifies The Culture War Of Our Times Right Now | Michele Tafoya

Note: This column is a loose transcription of Michele Tafoya's comments on Tuesday's "Don't @ Me W/ Dan Dakich" show.

So Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Kimmel have had this sort of ongoing feud. Aaron doesn't like Jimmy. Jimmy doesn't like Aaron.

Kimmel accused Rodgers of being this tinfoil hat conspiracy guy. And it it had to do with the vaccines. Remember, Aaronnever took the vaccine. He had health concern reasons for not doing it. Let's be honest, a number of people never took the vaccine, right?

But it got into this stuff about the Epstein files, the Jeffrey Epstein Island, and who's going to be on that list. And Rodgers became very interested in this story about the Epstein files and said, well, maybe Kimmel's nervous about the Epstein files being open. That was about the extent of what Aaron said.

That lit a fire under Kimmel. He posted on social media about Rodgers saying, you can't call me a pedophile. Rodgers didn't call Kimmel a pedophile. Not directly. He just said maybe Kimmel's nervous about the list. I mean, Kimmel makes a living out of tearing people apart.

Jimmy Kimmel's Monologue About Aaron Rodgers

So Kimmel last night in his monologue went off on Rodgers. Let's hear from Jimmy Kimmel. 

"I'm not one of those people who thinks athletes and members of the sports media should stick to talking about sports. I think Aaron Rodgers has the right to express any opinion he wants, but saying someone is a pedophile is not an opinion, nor is it trash talk. Sorry Pat McAfee," Kimmel stated.

"And as far as the you say things about people all the time argument goes, it's not the same. It's not even close to the same," Kimmel continued. "We say a lot of things on this show. We don't make up lies. In fact, we have a team of people who work very hard to sift through facts and reputable sources before I make a joke. And that's an important distinction. A joke about someone. Even when that someone is Donald Trump, even a person who lies from the minute he wakes up until the minute he's smearing orange makeup on his MyPillow." 

Okay. Give evidence for that, Jimmy Kimmel. Have you fact checked that? I'm not a Donald Trump apologist. Don't get this twisted. I think what people get ticked about is that everything always comes back to Donald Trump.

Whatever you think about Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy, you don't know him. And Rodgers happens to be really smart. He went off on Rodgers, saying there's a guy who went to community college. Like that's supposed to make him dumb. The only A's he got on his report card were the two A's in Aaron. That actually is a very funny joke. I got to give that to them. That's funny.

This is the culture issue at its core. Kimmel thinks he's smarter than you and everyone else, including Rodgers. Kimmel thinks that because he and Rodgers disagree about stuff, that he is smarter than Rodgers and that Rodgers is somehow dumb because he went to community college for two years. I know a lot of athletes who do that to get a chance to play so they can move on. To make that connection is just so snobbish. And to suggest that Rodgers is stupid because he didn't graduate Cal? Hey, I did graduate Cal, and I sent my diploma back because that university's disappointed me so much.

Here's The Real Problem

It's just this elitism. I'm smart because I'm a liberal and you're dumb. And then Kimmel went into this thing about conservatism. I know Aaron pretty well. I've covered him since he was a rookie. He's more of a libertarian guy.

Let's get granular here. Rodgers never came out and said, Jimmy Kimmel is a pedophile. Never said that. Just made an insinuation. Wanted to get under Kimmel's skin and apparently it worked. But that is the disconnect in America right now. I believe one way, you believe another way. Therefore I'm smarter than you. And you're stupid. And Kimmel effectively labeled all conservatives mean and stupid.

Ultimately, it always comes back to Trump. Always. Kimmel couldn't finish his rant about Rodgers without somehow tying it to Trump again. You could start talking about astrophysics and you'd eventually get back to Trump. Why does this happen? You can't just stay on message with your one point.

It's a weird freaking time in America. It's a little loony to me, Jimmy, that you started with Aaron Rodgers and Epstein Island, and you got back to Trump. Just look at that orange man bad.

It's so predictable and it's so damaging. This is the culture war of our times right now.