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"He has a soft spot in his heart for fraud," the late-night host joked after Trump pardoned the "Chrisley Knows Best" stars, who were serving prison time after being convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion.
Jimmy Kimmel is weighing in on President Donald Trump's decision to pardon Todd and Julie Chrisley.
The Chrisley Knows Best stars had been convicted in 2022 of bank fraud and tax evasion, though they have maintained their innocence throughout. Todd and Julie were originally sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively, in 2023, before their sentences were reduced to 10 and five years -- before Trump vacated them entirely this week.
During his opening monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday night, the talk show host poked fun at Trump's "rare day of forgiveness," in which he granted several pardons.
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View Story"You know, we say a lot about the president. Some of it isn’t flattering, some of it is critical, I'll admit that, but it isn’t fair to focus only on the negative. We should focus on the positives too. And today, President Trump showed that he isn’t just a dishonest, divisive, money-grubbing, golf ball-pounding narcissist who cares only about himself. He is also capable of showing compassion, and he did that today. This afternoon, Donald Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to Todd and Julie Chrisley."
Kimmel added that the couple are reality TV stars "just like Trump," recalling that when he first watched Chrisley Knows Best, he "thought there were actors in a parody of a reality show," and thought Julie was a "woman who married her own ventriloquist dummy or something."
"This is a real couple," Kimmel said while showing a photo of Todd, 56, and Julie, 52. "It's not a mom and her gay real estate broker son."
The comedian then told his audience about the couple's conviction, saying how a jury "found them guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans."
"That happens to be an issue that is very dear to President Trump. He has a soft spot in his heart for fraud," Kimmel joked.
After showing a video of Trump calling Todd and Julie's children -- Savannah and Chase -- from the Oval Office to tell them the news, Kimmel cracked, "He doesn't know those people. He just saw some fellow criminals in need," before then playing a clip that Savannah, 27, shared to her Instagram, in which she praised Trump for pardoning her parents.
"I am forever grateful. Thank you, President Trump, and I vow to stand next to you and your administration and exposing the corruption and continue fighting for the men and women that are in prison," she said in part.
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"Cool, we'll get you a ticket on the next flight to El Salvador," Kimmel joked. "There are a lot of people you can fight for down there."
The host went on to highlight some of Trump's other recent pardons for right-leaning people convicted of crimes, including Paul Walczak, a former nursing home executive sentenced for tax crimes -- and whose mother attended Trump's recent $1-million-per-head fundraising dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
"So he's a good guy!" Kimmel said sarcastically, before noting that he had a $1 million "get out of jail free card" that "will be hand delivered by his mommy."
"I don't want to go down the if Biden did this road, but the man stole from nursing home employees to buy a yacht!" he added. "And do we hear anything from Congress? No. That sound you hear coming from the Republican side of the aisle is crickets, specifically the ones they feed Ted Cruz at night."
Check out Kimmel's full monologue, in the video, above!
