Critics are questioning if the Department of Justice under President Biden and Vice President Harris will apply the same standards to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel as it did to Douglass Mackey, a pro-Trump influencer convicted and jailed last year over memes deemed to be “election interference.”
Many are skeptical, pointing to what they perceive as a pattern of selective enforcement by the DOJ. Critics argue that the department often holds conservatives to a higher standard than their ideological counterparts.
A Double Standard at Play?
The DOJ’s track record raises eyebrows. Former Trump advisers Stephen Bannon and Peter Navarro faced convictions for alleged contempt of Congress. Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland and former Attorney General Eric Holder walked away unscathed under similar accusations. Pro-life activists have been a particular target under the pro-abortion DOJ, often facing strict enforcement of the FACE Act, while Jan. 6 protesters saw draconian prosecution in stark contrast to how Black Lives Matter rioters were treated.
Jimmy Kimmel, host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, recently urged viewers to participate in the upcoming election, but he specifically targeted former President Donald Trump and his supporters with a controversial quip.
In his monologue, Kimmel urged, “You have to vote. If you can vote early, vote early. If you can’t vote early, vote on time. If you want to vote for Trump, vote late. Vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday or maybe Friday.”
Calls for Equal Treatment
The statements sparked comparisons to Douglass Mackey, who is currently appealing his conviction. “Wasn’t Douglass Mackey sentenced to prison for doing something similar? Will @TheJusticeDept investigate Jimmy Kimmel?” the popular account Libs of TikTok asked.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) emphasized, “Douglass Mackey was sent to prison for this.”
Financial commentator John LeFevre tweeted, “Biden’s DOJ sent Douglass Mackey to prison for sharing this same joke about Hillary,” tweeted former Salomon Brothers and Citigroup investment banker John LeFevre. “Another example of the weaponized lawfare and two-tiered justice that awaits us if Kamala wins.”
Mackey himself weighed in: “Jimmy Kimmel told his joke to an audience of millions. The joke meme I sent out didn’t even reach more than 100 people until Buzzfeed and Wired reported on it.”
The Case of Douglass Mackey
In 2021, Mackey was arrested for “election interference” related to a meme encouraging voters to “vote” via text message or social media, which was legally invalid. His conviction in New York led to a seven-month prison sentence in October 2023, handed down by Obama-appointed Judge Ann M. Donnelly. Former President Trump remarked, “They’re putting Douglass Mackey in jail for sharing a joking meme about Hillary Clinton seven years ago. Nobody ever heard of anything like that.”
The DOJ claimed Mackey’s meme was part of a conspiracy “to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to ‘vote’ via text message or social media.” According to The Intercept, no federal law explicitly bans false information about election mechanisms. Instead, Mackey was charged under the Reconstruction-era Section 241, also known as the “Ku Klux Klan Act,” which targets conspiracies to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate” someone exercising a federally protected right.
The DOJ even called Mackey’s prosecution “groundbreaking.” He is appealing to the Second Circuit and potentially the Supreme Court. As he argued, “The First Amendment tolerates narrow, clear statutes that target knowingly false speech concerning the time, place, and manner, or other technical mechanics of an election. But Section 241 is not such a statute. This Court should reverse the decision of the district court.”
Kimmel Under Scrutiny
Mackey highlighted the scrutiny he endured: When I made an election joke, the Deep State used it as a pretext to conduct a fishing expedition against me, subpoenaing all financial records, leases, employment information and pay stubs, and email accounts. Will Jimmy Kimmel enjoy the same?” he tweeted.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) insisted Kimmel’s “violation is worse than what [Mackey was] convicted for, and he transmitted this over federally licensed airwaves. The @FCC, @FBI, #FEC and #DOJ should be contacted, @ABC should be immediately sanctioned, and @Jimmykimmel needs to be investigated. Anything less is selective and preferential justice.”
Blaze Media’s Rob Eno suggested a grassroots response: “It would be a real shame if everyone flooded the US DOJ crime tip line and ask them to charge Jimmy Kimmel with the same crime they charged Douglass Mackey with. A real shame. I’m not telling you to to go this link and do it.”
And conservative voice Matt Walsh didn’t mince words: “I’m dead serious when I say if Trump wins he should have Jimmy Kimmel arrested and jailed. Force these scumbags to live by their own rules.”
