make light of

"It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," he said in his opening monologue that night.

He soon followed that by reiterating, while fighting back tears, that he never meant to “make light of the murder of a young man,” referring to Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down on Sept. 10.

On Tuesday, Kimmel teared up when he spoke of Kirk’s death and said he never meant to make light of a young man’s killing.

During Tuesday's show, a tearful Kimmel said it "was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man".

During his opening monologue, Kimmel got choked up when he told viewers it was “never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man” when he discussed the right wing’s response to the shooting.