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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Louis Chilton

Jimmy Kimmel compares Amy Coney Barrett ceremony to famous Game of Thrones episode

Photograph: Getty/ABC

Jimmy Kimmel has compared the confirmation celebration for Supreme Court judge Amy Coney Barrett to a famous scene from Game of Thrones.

Barrett was controversially appointed to the bench following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg earlier this year.

Speaking on his late night talk show, Kimmel referred to the fact that several White House members have recently tested positive for Covid-19, including Donald Trump.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, described the crowded celebration after Barrett’s confirmation as a “super-spreader event”.

“This is like if in Game of Thrones, the Starks decided to have a second Red Wedding,” joked Kimmel, alluding to one of the show’s most notorious scenes.

The “Red Wedding” featured in the ninth episode of Thrones’ third season, titled “The Rains of Castamere”, and saw a host of characters all meet grisly ends in one orchestrated burst of carnage.

Kimmel also mocked the US president’s habit of repeatedly saying that the country was “rounding the corner” when it came to supressing the spread of coronavirus.

“We’ve rounded so many corners we’re about to throw up,” the host joked.

The appointment of Barrett onto the Supreme Court was condemned by many Democrats, with many criticising the judge’s anti-abortion beliefs.

When Barack Obama attempted to appoint a judge during his final year in office (Merrick Garland, who was nominated to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia), the move was blocked by the Republican-controlled Senate until after the election.

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