--- title: Jimmy Kimmel Oscars Interview: Election Circus description: It's what happens when the circus is too close to reality canonical: https://time.com/4637612/jimmy-kimmel-on-election-circus/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-18T16:44:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:15.585Z og:title: Jimmy Kimmel Explains the Election Out-Circused the Real Circus og:description: It's what happens when the circus is too close to reality og:url: https://time.com/4637612/jimmy-kimmel-on-election-circus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Kimmel Explains the Election Out-Circused the Real Circus twitter:description: It's what happens when the circus is too close to reality twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Jimmy Kimmel Says the Election 'Out-Circused' the Actual Circus > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 18, 2017 4:44 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 18, 2017 4:44 PM UTC Jimmy Kimmel has a guess as to why [Ringling Bros.](http://time.com/4635503/the-greatest-show-on-earth-ringling-bros-gallery/?iid=sr-link1) and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed after more than 100 years in operation—and it had to do with [elephants](http://time.com/3733447/elephants-animal-cruelty-abuse-circus/?iid=sr-link5). Specifically, elephants and donkeys. The Oscars host jokes that the “the Greatest Show on Earth” takes place far from the Big Top and instead can be found on the campaign trail. In an interview with [_Deadline_](http://deadline.com/2017/01/oscars-jimmy-kimmel-host-donald-trump-1201888036/)_,_ Kimmel discussed the presidential election, the battle between the Democratic and Republican parties, and the swirling madness of the political campaign that took over the nation for the better part of 2016\. “It’s easily the most interesting election and \[election\] result that we’ve had in my lifetime. It’s nothing if not interesting,” said Kimmel. “The whole thing is a daily circus. I think that’s why Ringling Brothers closed down. They’ve been out-circused,” he said. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will [close in May.](http://time.com/4635455/ringling-bros-barnum-bailey-circus-close/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4637612/jimmy-kimmel-on-election-circus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4637612/jimmy-kimmel-on-election-circus/"},"headline":"Jimmy Kimmel Says the Election 'Out-Circused' the Actual Circus","datePublished":"2017-01-18T16:44:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:15.585Z","description":"It’s what happens when the circus is too close to reality","url":"https://time.com/4637612/jimmy-kimmel-on-election-circus/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Jimmy Kimmel","jimmy kimmel live","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4637612/jimmy-kimmel-on-election-circus/","name":"Jimmy Kimmel Says the Election 'Out-Circused' the Actual Circus"}}]}] ```