Overview
- Trixie Mattel, identified as Brian Firkus, read passages from Eric Trump’s Under Siege to a group of children in a segment that aired last week on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
- The skit included direct exchanges with kids and ended with Mattel feeding a copy of the memoir into a wood chipper while the children clapped.
- Kimmel introduced the segment by citing the book’s sharply polarized ratings and framing the reading as a way for young people to judge it for themselves.
- Right-leaning media and social accounts criticized the use of a drag performer and children, characterizing the bit as a partisan stunt.
- The show previously ran a similar Mattel-led reading in 2023 featuring Sen. Ted Cruz’s book, and coverage noted Kimmel’s recent brief suspension over separate comments, with no new sanctions reported tied to this segment.