Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is speaking out against pro-Palestinian protests that have broken out at his shows, saying he’s being targeted, but protestors need to “correct their aim.”
Seinfeld discussed the targeting while appearing on Bari Weiss’s “Honestly” podcast, which was released on Tuesday. In it, Seinfeld said that it was “so dumb” that he was being targeted.
“I love that these young people. They’re trying to get engaged with politics,” Seinfeld said. “We have to just correct their aim a little bit. They don’t seem to understand that, as comedians, we really don’t control anything.”
After the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, Seinfeld, who is Jewish, publicly voiced his support for Israel and denounced antisemitism.
During the interview, Weiss, who is a former columnist for The New York Times, said she had seen footage of the comedian being called “Nazi scum” and genocide supporter” by protestors.
While Seinfeld spoke at Duke University’s commencement ceremony this month, dozens of students walked out ahead of his remarks.
But, the comedian shared that he isn’t taking protesters targeting him to heart.
“It’s so silly. It’s like they want to express this sincere, intense rage. But again, a little off target,” he said. “So that’s, to me, comedic.”
Seinfeld also discussed the current political climate, something he has rarely done throughout his career, referring to both Republicans and Democrats as being “mobs.”
“They’re mobs believing their own crap, right? That’s what a political party is: We’re going to make up a bunch of nonsense, and we’ll all agree to it,” Seinfeld said.
“Let’s print up some bumper stickers and get out there kids — that’s politics,” Seinfeld joked.
He continued saying that all people are looking for is someone to agree with them, but that “it’s all BS.”
“We’re tribal animals. We’re social creatures. We look for agreement and consensus. We’re driven by agreement and consensus and mob rule — it gives us comfort, gives us certainty,” Seinfeld said.