Jimmy Kimmel called out President Donald Trump for honoring right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
“Today is Rosa Parks Day, and this is a medal they gave Rosa Parks,” Kimmel said. “Tonight, Rush Limbaugh got it.”
President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given by the president, to Parks in 1996.
“By refusing to give up her seat, she sparked the Montgomery Bus boycott and helped launch the civil rights movement,” Clinton said when he bestowed the honor.
Limbaugh, who this week announced he has advanced lung cancer, has a history of making racist, sexist and homophobic comments. A headline on Vox called the talk-show host “one of America’s most prominent racists,” noting segments he’d aired, including a parody song called “Barack the Magic Negro” in 2007 about then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who would later become president.
See Kimmel’s full monologue about the State of the Union above.