This is What’s Trending Today.
Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel has the most-watched video on YouTube right now -- over 3 million views in less than a day.
Kimmel is known for making jokes, but instead, he’s talking about something serious.
The video is about 10 minutes long. He was talking to his audience about the mass shooting Sunday night at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fifty-nine people were killed and more than 500 others were hurt.
Kimmel grew up in Las Vegas. He was close to crying as he spoke during the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show on Monday.
“We have children without parents and fathers without sons, mothers without daughters,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel told the audience that the United States is not doing enough to control access to guns.
He criticized politicians for working to help the National Rifle Association – known as the NRA -- instead of their voters. He put the photos of about 50 members of the U.S. Senate on the screen.
The National Rifle Association is a group that promotes the “right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Those words are part of the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
On its website, the NRA says it is “a major political force and America’s foremost defender of second amendment rights.”
The NRA does not want the U.S. government to make laws that restrict people’s ability to buy guns. Those laws are commonly known as “gun control.”
After people die in fires, floods, airplane crashes and more, Kimmel said, other people try to prevent those things from happening again. For example, Kimmel remembered that after a hotel in Las Vegas burned down when he was a boy, the city made sure buildings were made of safer materials.
But, after people are killed by guns, he said, all that people do is “send prayers” instead of doing something to prevent easy availability of guns.
Kimmel said “there is more that we can do, and we need to do it.”
He said politicians in the United States can make a difference, but they only offer “thoughts and prayers,” instead.
Kimmel said, “I hate talking about stuff like this … I just want to laugh every night.”
But this year, he has become a voice for those who think the U.S. government is not doing enough for its people.
Before speaking about gun control, he also got involved in the biggest political debate of 2017: the attempt by the Republican Party to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
The act provided many Americans with health insurance that they did not have before. Barack Obama signed the bill into law during his presidency.
Kimmel started talking about healthcare after his son was born with a serious heart problem that required surgery.
Kimmel’s name was used during the debate, more than once. Some politicians said they would not vote for a new healthcare law unless it passed “the Jimmy Kimmel test.”
Kimmel asked “if your baby is going to die, and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make. I think that’s something, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, we all agree on that, right?”
He told politicians to “stop with the nonsense,” and “take care of each other.”
He said it again on Monday.
And that’s What’s Trending Today.
I’m Dan Friedell.
Dan Friedell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
What do you think of Kimmel’s speech about the shooting in Las Vegas? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
_____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
concert – n. a musical performance
host – n. a person who talks to guests on a television show
audience – n. a group of people who gather to watch something
promote – v. to make people aware of
foremost – adj. most important
nonsense – n. behavior that is silly, annoying, or unkind
access – n. a way of being able to use or get something
