Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Nov 22: The feud between late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and former US President Donald Trump flared up again on Thursday, with Kimmel delivering a pointed response on Jimmy Kimmel Live to Trump’s latest social media attack.
Trump had called Kimmel “a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS” and urged ABC to “Get the bum off the air!!!” Kimmel, however, used the opportunity to poke fun at Trump’s historically low second-term approval ratings. “He keeps saying we have bad ratings. And you should listen to him – because if anyone knows about bad ratings – it's that guy!” he quipped.
Acknowledging that Trump apparently watched the show live, Kimmel directly addressed him: “Hi, Mr President, how are you? Thanks for watching us on TV instead of YouTube. It's viewers like you who keep us on the air, ironically.” He further joked about Trump taking time during “the biggest sex scandal in the history of the American presidency” to post about the show.
Kimmel also recounted how he learned of Trump’s tweet that morning. “I woke up, my wife comes out of the bathroom – she’s got her phone. She goes, ‘Um, Trump tweeted you should be fired again.' I was like, ‘Oh,’ and then I went downstairs and made bagels for the kids.”
The Kimmel-Trump spat is not new. In September, Kimmel’s show was briefly suspended by ABC after comments he made following the assassination of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk, which Trump celebrated. Kimmel was reinstated within a week after Disney faced criticism.
Referring to that incident, Kimmel told Trump: “You've done this before. You tried to get me fired in September. It didn’t work. Mr President, I admire your tenacity. If you’re watching tonight… I’ll go when you go.”
He ended his monologue by referencing Trump’s recent clash with a Bloomberg reporter: “We'll be a team. Let's ride off into the sunset together – like Butch Cassidy and the Suntan Kid. And until then… quiet, Piggy!”
Kimmel’s contract with ABC expires at the end of the current season, and he has not yet confirmed whether he will continue beyond that.