'This is the culture issue at its core,' says Tafoya
Michele Tafoya on Aaron Rodgers-Jimmy Kimmel feud
Michele Tafoya talks about the ongoing Aaron Rodgers-Jimmy Kimmel feud on OutKick's "Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich."
The war of words between Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Kimmel now has tag-team partners.
Radio legend Howard Stern took the side of the late-night host, but one former sports reporter is backing the four-time NFL MVP.
Michell Tafoya hosted "Don't @ Me" on OutKick on Tuesday and came to the defense of Rodgers, who insinuated that Kimmel was on Jeffrey Epstein's client list on "The Pat McAfee Show" last week.
Tafoya said that Kimmel "makes a living out of tearing people apart," so Rodgers' comments should not have gotten under his skin that much.
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Host Michele Tafoya speaks at a panel for the NBC Sports television series "NBC Sunday Night Football" during the Television Critics Association Cable Summer Press Tour. (REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)
However, Tafoya said Kimmel's monologue on Monday was "the disconnect in America right now, in a nutshell.""
"This is the culture issue at its core. Jimmy Kimmel thinks he's smarter than you and everyone else, including Aaron Rodgers. Jimmy Kimmel thinks that because he and Aaron Rodgers disagree about stuff, that he is smarter than Aaron Rodgers, and Aaron Rodgers is somehow dumb, because Aaron Rodgers went to community college for two years…" Tafoya said. "So to make that connection is so snobbish. To suggest that Aaron is stupid because he didn't graduate Cal, it's just this elitism. It's the ‘I’m smart because I'm a liberal, and you're dumb…'
"But that is the disconnect in America right now in a nutshell. 'I believe one way, you believe in another way, and therefore, I'm smarter than you, and you're stupid.'"
Tafoya also pointed out how Kimmel managed to take sly shots at former President Trump, something he "always" does.
Jimmy Kimmel and Aaron Rodgers' feud went to the next level. (Getty Images)
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"He couldn't finish his rant about Aaron Rodgers without somehow tying it to Trump… This need to always come back to Trump. You can start talking about astrophysics, and you eventually get back to Trump," she said.
"How is this possible? Why does this happen? You can't just stay on message with your one point? You have to bring it back to Trump. It's a weird freaking time in America - that's putting it mildly… It's a little loony to me, Jimmy, that you started with Aaron Rodgers and Epstein Island, and you got back to Trump…"
"It's so predictable, and it's so damaging."
ESPN, the network that airs McAfee's show, issued an apology for Rodgers' "dumb and factually inaccurate joke."
"It should never have happened. We all realized that in the moment," ESPN's Mike Foss said, via Front Office Sports.
Donald Trump was a guest on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in 2015 prior to winning the presidency. (Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content)
McAfee, a former Indianapolis Colts punter, called the comments Rodgers made an attempt to "talk s---" and apologized for "being a part of" the drama that came about afterward.
"We obviously don’t like the fact that we’re associated with anything negative ever. We like our show to be an uplifting one. A happy one. A fun one. But it’s because we talk s--- and try to make light of everything, some things obviously people get very p---ed off about, especially when they’re that serious of allegations," he said.
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