Jimmy Kimmel struggled to fight back the tears as he gave an emotional monologue about the Las Vegas shooting which killed at least 59 people and injured another 527.
The US comedian skipped the usual jokes to open his late night talk show by talking for 10 minutes about his hometown being hit by the the deadliest mass shooting in US history.
His voice cracking at times and with tears in his eyes, Kimmel drew attention to the fact “we have children without parents,” saying the tragedy “makes you wanna throw up or give up.”
Kimmel also made a plea for what he called “common sense” gun control laws and named those politicians who were standing in the way, including President Donald Trump, suggesting they should be praying for forgiveness as well as for the victims.
“You know in February (Donald Trump) also signed a bill that made it easier for people with severe mental illness to buy guns legally. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, a number of other lawmakers who won’t do anything about this because the NRA has their balls in a money clip, also sent their thoughts and their prayers today ― which is good. They should be praying. They should be praying for God to forgive them for letting the gun lobby run this country.”
Kimmel added: “I want this to be a comedy show, I hate talking about stuff like this.
“I just want to laugh about things every night, but it seems to be becoming increasingly difficult lately. It feels like someone has opened a window into hell.”