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Nearly half a century ago, comedian Johnny Carson chose unity over punchlines after an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
A clip comparing Carson’s 1981 Oscars monologue to reactions to a recent attempt on President Donald Trump’s life has drawn nearly 800,000 views online.
“I’m sure that all of you here and most of you watching tonight understand why we delayed this program for 24 hours,” Carson said in the video. “Because of the incredible events of yesterday, that old adage, the show must go on, seemed relatively unimportant.”
Carson and others postponed the Academy Awards by 24 hours after John Hinckley Jr.’s March 30, 1981 attempt on Reagan’s life. The attack happened at the same location as Saturday’s shooting, the Washington Hilton Hotel, more than 40 years earlier.
There are clear differences between the attempt on Reagan and Trump. Reagan was seriously wounded and returned to the White House after 12 days in the hospital.
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“The Academy, ABC television and all of us connected with the show felt because of the uncertain outcome as of this time yesterday, it would have been inappropriate to stage a celebration,” Carson added.
The host noted the president’s resilience, saying he was in “excellent condition” and still “conducting business.” He shared that Reagan was making jokes from his hospital bed while struggling to speak.
“You must remember, this is a man who yesterday, while he was in the hospital, unable to speak, wrote on a sheet of paper, ‘All things considered, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.’ So tonight, the show does go on,” Carson said.
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Johnny Carson hosted the 53rd Academy Awards broadcast on March 31, 1981. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
The video resurfaced as late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel faces criticism over a joke made before the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. During his show last Thursday, Kimmel aired a parody of the event and joked about First Lady Melania Trump: “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
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Clips of the comments spread widely online after what authorities have described as another assassination attempt over the weekend. The first lady called on ABC to fire Kimmel over what she described as “hateful” language.
Kimmel defended the comment as a “light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80, and she’s younger than I am.”
First Lady Melania Trump called on ABC to take action against Jimmy Kimmel on Monday. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
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“It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination — and they know that,” Kimmel said Monday night.
“I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular, but I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house,” he added.
