Jimmy Kimmel Cut Rick Santorum Joke From White House Correspondents Dinner Per Jake Tapper's Advice
Jimmy Kimmel ripped everyone from President Obama to Rupert Murdoch at last month's White House Correspondents Dinner, but not everyone received the full force of Kimmel's wit.
During an interview on Howard Stern's Sirius XM radio show, Kimmel revealed that while no WHCD officials asked to review his material before he spoke, he did cut jokes based on feedback from ABC News’ Jake Tapper and other reporters. He provided one example of a joke about then-GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum that was cut because Tapper thought it wouldn't be well received. In the transcript below, Kimmel explains the joke which alludes to how Santorum handled the passing of his infant son in 1996:
KIMMEL: I had some jokes about — like Rick Santorum. I said something like — well, I didn’t say it, but: Newt Gingrich’s campaign is so dead Mitt Romney wants to baptize it and Rick Santorum wants to put it in a jar and show it to his kids.
STERN: You didn’t want any abortion jokes?
KIMMEL: People went like, uh-oh. I ran it by people who go to this thing.
Tapper confirmed that he suggested Kimmel take out the joke, even going as far as to say there'd be a "tar and feather" incident in the Hilton if it was said aloud (Santorum was also in attendance at the dinner).
Kimmel also joked to Stern about censoring himself when it came to mocking President Obama, saying "I decided right off the bat that the N word was out."