As Jimmy Kimmel gets back into the swing of things, his regularly scheduled jokes about President Donald Trump have resumed.
On Wednesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, following a major viewership boost for ABC, the comedian predicted Trump will “try to sue” the network after he posted about the episode “moments after we taped our show.”
“You know, a lot of people watched our show last night. I had so many texts from so many people,” he said in his opening monologue. “It made me realize how many of my friends are never watching the show at any other time. Tomorrow, I’ll hear from no one.”
Kimmel noted, “I did hear from one very special friend,” quoting “the mad red hatter” after Trump previously lashed out at ABC once again in response to Kimmel’s return. “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” Kimmel quoted the Truth Social post.
“You can’t believe they gave me my job back? I can’t believe they gave you your job back! We’re even,” he declared to applause.
As an audience member called out in support, Kimmel quipped, “Shut the fuck up. The freedom of speech is only for me. You do not interrupt the president.”
Kimmel went on to pick apart the post, particularly where Trump teased legal action. “Only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn’t threatening ABC by threatening ABC. And you almost have to feel sorry for the people who work for him, who try to clean up the messes. They’ve been bending over backwards,” he said.
Calling out Trump’s claim that his ratings got him fired, Kimmel said, “Has anyone ever been fired for bad ratings on a Wednesday?”
“He does know bad ratings. He has some of the worst ratings any president has ever had. So, on behalf of all of us, welcome to the ‘Crappy Ratings Club’, Mr. President,” Kimmel continued. “Next, he’ll try to sue us. And I wanna say, good luck with that. Because we thought about it, we packed the courts. And we have a surprise ace up our sleeve, Mr. Judge Steve Harvey. Survey says, you lose.”
“Sadly, the truth is, no one wants to face Donald Trump in court. That’s where he’s his most flatulent,” added Kimmel.
Kimmel called Trump “an old-fashioned 80s movie style bully” as he made another point, “For those who think I go too hard Donald Trump, to the point where there are still a lot of people who think I should be pulled off the air for making Donald Trump. So, I want to explain, I talk about Trump more than anything because he’s a bully.”
Trump added in his latest Truth Social rant about Kimmel, “The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE. He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative,” added Trump. “A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Despite more ramblings about bad ratings, Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to air Tuesday after his brief suspension, driving 6.26 million viewers. That’s without the 23% of U.S. households where affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair are still preempting the late-night talk show.
Kimmel’s return comes after ABC announced the show was “preempted indefinitely,” which many criticized as an attack on free speech, following the FCC’s warning about the late-night host’s Charlie Kirk comments.
Known for his ‘Prove Me Wrong’ debates and MAGA POV, Kirk was shot dead at Utah Valley University on September 10 in a tragedy that has sent shockwaves through the political and media worlds.
Having previously mocked Trump over POTUS’ take on the NFL and TikTok, Kimmel offered his blunt assessment of the aftermath of Kirk’s death in his opening monologue on his September 15 show: “”We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” he said.
