Talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel has delivered an emotional monologue containing a damning criticism of President Donald Trump for his response to the George Floyd tragedy.
Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, was apprehended by police officers after it was alleged that he had attempted to use a counterfeit $20 note in a deli.
A video shot by a passer-by shows an officer restraining Floyd by kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. In the clip, which has gone viral on social media, Floyd repeatedly complains that he is struggling to breathe but the officer refuses to relent. He later died.
There have been widespread riots across the city this week as a result of the incident, which Trump referred to in a now-removed tweet which said: "When the looting starts, the shooting starts."
Kimmel, who is filming his talkshow from home during the coronavirus pandemic, devoted the first section of his Friday show to the crisis and pulled no punches over Trump.
"Our disgusting excuse for a President, Mr Tough Guy, decides 'I know what I'll do, I'll make this worse'. At 1 o'clock in the morning, instead of trying to make peace, Donald Trump makes a violent threat," he said.
"Our President is threatening to order the military to shoot Americans, specifically black Americans. And then of course today, as he often does when he says something idiotic, he tried to reel that in. The sad thing about how much he lies is, he isn't even good at it."
Addressing older viewers, he continued: "Is this who you want leading us? A President who clearly and intentionally inflames violence in the middle of a riot to show how tough he is? A Commander-in-chief who threatens to put members of our military in the position of having to shoot a fellow American on sight?
"I don't care what you are - right, left, Republican, Democrat - I can't imagine there are many of us who want that. Enough is enough. We've got to vote this guy out already."
Watch Kimmel's monologue in full below:
Neil Wilkes
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