Jimmy Kimmel spent the majority of his opening monologue on his late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night ridiculing Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore.
That came a day after a comedian who frequently appears on Kimmel's show interrupted a Moore rally in Theodore as part of a comedy skit that included interrupting Moore supporters who were being interviewed outside the church where the rally was held.
Kimmel also said that he "found myself in a Twitter war" with Moore on Thursday afternoon after the two fired tweets at each other on the social media network. It began when Moore challenged Kimmel to come to Alabama if he wanted "to mock Christian values" and do it "man to man."
Kimmel alluded to a report that Moore was banned from the Gadsden Mall. Moore has repeatedly denied he was banned from the mall.
"Imagine getting banned from a mall, just think about that," Kimmel said. "No hot dog on a stick for you."
He then responded to Moore's invitation.
"The bottom line is this," Kimmel said. "I accept the invitation. I will come down there. What I'm going to do is, I'm going to come down to Gadsden, Alabama with team of high school cheerleaders. I'll meet you at the mall - don't worry, I can get you in. And when the girls and I show up, if you can control yourself and behave, if you can somehow manage to keep little Roy in your little cowboy pants when those nubile cheerleaders come in, we will sit down at the food court, we'll have a little panda express and we'll talk about Christian values.
"I don't know if it doesn't fit your stereotype but I happen to be a Christian, too. I made my first Holy Communion, I was confirmed, I pray, I support my church, one of my closest friends is a priest. I baptized my children. Christian is actually my middle name. I know that's shocking but it's true. So if you're open to it, when we sit down, I will share with you what I learned at my church. At my church, forcing yourself on underage girls is a no-no. Some even consider it to be a sin. Not that you did that, of course - allegedly. But when you commit a sin at our church, we're encouraged to confess and ask for forgiveness for the sin. Not call the women you allegedly victimized liars and damage them even more. Maybe your church is different, I don't know."
Kimmel then said that if Moore invitation was for a fight, he would accept that, too.
"Or maybe when you say come down to Alabama and talk it through man to man, you're challenging me to a fight," Kimmel said. "Which is kind of what it sounded like. And if it was, I accept. There is no one I would rather fight more than you. I would put my Christian values aside just for you for that fight.
"So if you are challenging me to a fight, here's what I'll do. Let's find a place to do it, I'll wear a Girl Scout uniform so you have something to get excited about and whoever wins the fight will give all the money from tickets to charity. My charity will be to give it to all the women who said you molested them."
Kimmel closed the Moore segment of his monologue with this: "We like Alabama. We like Alabama so much we sent Reese Witherspoon to make a movie about you. We just don't like alleged child molesters and we hope you can see your way clear to not electing one to the Senate of the United States of America, that's all. That seems reasonable, right?"
Later in the show, Kimmel showed the comedy skit with comedian Tony Barbieri.
Original story: A day after a comedian from the Jimmy Kimmel Live! late-night show interrupted a campaign speech by Roy Moore, the Alabama Senate Republican nominee fired back at Kimmel.
And Kimmel then fired back at Moore.
"If you want to mock our Christian values, come down here to Alabama and do it man to man," Moore posted on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
To which Kimmel responded, "Sounds great Roy - let me know when you get some Christian values and I'll be there!"
And then Moore responded back to Kimmel.
"Despite D.C. and Hollywood Elites' bigotry towards southerners, Jimmy, we'll save you a seat on the front pew," Moore tweeted.
And one minute after that tweet, Kimmel promised there would be "MORE MOORE LATER TONIGHT!" Kimmel's show airs weeknights at 10:30 p.m. on ABC.
It's the latest extraordinary twist in what's become an extraordinary campaign to win the seat formerly held by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The election against Democrat Doug Jones is Dec. 12.
The incident began Wednesday night before Moore spoke at Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Mobile suburb of Theodore. Jake Byrd, a fictional character played by comedian Tony Barbieri who has a recurring role on Kimmel's show, was first spotted interrupting interviews with Moore supporters in the parking lot of the church ahead of Moore's speech. Barbieri wore a pro-Moore T-shirt that had "Gimme Moore" splashed across the front.
During Moore's speech in the church, the comedian stood up from his front-row seat and shouted "That's a man's man" to the audience as a surprised Moore looked on.
"Does that look like the face of a molester?" Barbieri continued.
He eventually was removed from the church by security after shouting, "I'm his biggest supporter. I'm his number one fan."
As he was escorted out, Barbieri continued by saying, "They're kicking out your number one fan, Judge. I'm your number one fan judge. Number one. Because I believe in the Judge. And I don't believe the ladies who are ... does that look like the face of someone who hits on teenage girls?"
Kimmel tweeted the AL.com story covering Barbieri earlier in the day. And CNN's Jake Tapper tweeted the AL.com video of the incident, which Kimmel retweeted.
Barbieri has a history of showing up at unexpected places. In past appearances on the Kimmel show, Barbieri has played a Trump supporter at a rally, a Michael Jackson fan, and had tried to steal a high-five from O.J. Simpson's attorney.
Drew Messer, a campaign strategist for Moore, told Breitbart News that the joke was inappropriate given the church setting.
"Jimmy Kimmel and the 'Hollywood elite' cross the line when they invade our Churches under a disguise and attempt to make a mockery of our worship services," Messer said.
Another campaign strategist, Brett Doster, described Barbieri as one of Kimmel's "goons" in an email to Breitbart.