Jimmy Kimmel Live host Jimmy Kimmel challenges Hillary Clinton to open a jar of pickles to prove she is in good health being accused of hiding a medical condition. After the gag, a conservative radio host accused Kimmel of rigging the pickle jar to make the top looser for Clinton. Screenshot courtesy ABC

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel responded to critics Thursday who charged he "fixed" a jar of pickles he asked Hillary Clinton to open to prove she's not in ill health.

Clinton appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week and the host asked her about remarks from her presidential opponent Donald Trump and some of his supporters that she lacks the "stamina" to be president. Others, including the conservative radio host Alex Jones and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, have said they believe Clinton to be in failing health and covering up serious illness.


Clinton brushed off those accusations to Kimmel, jokingly asking him to check her pulse to "make sure there's something there."

Kimmel then produced a glass jar of pickles from under his desk and asked Clinton to open it to prove she was of average human strength. Kimmel pledged it "has not been tampered with."

Clinton made an exaggerated show of opening the jar to applause from the audience.

Jones, however, said on his radio show Tuesday he believed the jar in fact had been tampered with. He noted the jar never made a popping sound indicating the safety seal had already been broken and the lid loosened in case she wasn't able to open it on her own.

"I noticed this right away. We blew the video up," Jones said. "There's no pop when she opens it and she acts like she's got to turn it all the way around like she's opening a can of peanut butter. But anyone who's opened a sealed can ... knows you can't open one that way. You pressure down and pop it open, then unscrew it. There's no pop."

The segment on Jones' show dedicated to Clinton's health and the emerging pickle-gate scandal lasted some seven minutes, a fact Kimmel lambasted Thursday night.

"Thousands of people, even millions of people, are convinced I rigged the pickle jar," he said. "If you're ever feeling bad about your job, just remember there's a grown man who spent a full seven minutes yelling about me and a pickle jar on television."

Kimmel also pointed out opening a jar of pickles is not something presidents are frequently required to do.

"Let's say we did loosen the jar. What does opening pickles even prove?" Kimmel said. "I have to imagine that one of the perks of being president is you never have to open pickles yourself again."