Jimmy Kimmel held nothing back while addressing President Donald Trump‘s reaction to Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘s return to ABC.
During the show’s Wednesday, September 24, episode, Kimmel noted that he heard from several people about the series’ first episode back after suspension the night prior. “I did hear from one very special friend moments after we taped our show last night,” he joked, referring to Trump’s Truth Social post slamming Kimmel and ABC.
“The Mad Red Hatter wrote, ‘I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.’ You can’t believe they gave me my job back? I can’t believe we gave you your job back. We’re even,” Kimmel quipped. “And there’s more. [He said,] ‘The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!’ No, they weren’t. [He said,] ‘Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there.’ That I can’t argue with.”
During the monologue, Kimmel reacted to an audience member who audibly inaudibly shouted from the crowd. “Shut the f**k up. The freedom of speech is only for me. Do not interrupt the president,” he declared before reading more of Trump’s Truth Social post.
“He says, ‘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. A true bunch of losers!’” Kimmel read, noting that “only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn’t threatening ABC by threatening ABC.” (Trump settled a $16 defamation lawsuit with CBS earlier this year.)
Kimmel said he almost feels “sorry” for Trump’s staffers “who try to clean up the messes,” adding, “The second Trump is alone, he sits on the toilet, he gets his grubby little thumbs on his phone, and he immediately blows their excuses to smithereens and says it was ratings that got me fired. Has anyone ever been fired for bad ratings on a Wednesday?”
For his “big closer,” Trump wrote, “Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.” Kimmel, for his part, clapped back by pointing out Trump’s own poor approval ratings, displaying statistics from outlets such as The Washington Post and The Economist on the screen. “So, on behalf of all of us, welcome to the crappy ratings club, Mr. President,” Kimmel said.
The TV personality went on to address people who think he goes “too hard” on the president on his show. “I want to explain. I talk about Trump more than anything because he’s a bully. I don’t like bullies. I played the clarinet in high school, okay, so I just don’t like them,” Kimmel told viewers. “Donald Trump is an old-fashioned, ’80s movie-style bully, taking your lunch money. And if you give it to him once, he’ll take it again. Two things he loves, lunch and money.”
Kimmel went so far as to compare Trump to the character of Biff from the Back to the Future film franchise. “Literally, Donald Trump was the model for Biff in Back to the Future,” he joked. “And this is who people are cheering for? I don’t know about you, I’m with Marty McFly.”
Later in the monologue, Kimmel also poked fun at Trump for complaining about an escalator stopping as he and First Lady Melania Trump walked on it during a recent trip to the United Nations.
“Trump will not release the Epstein files, but we will be doing a thorough and complete investigation into who stopped his escalator,” Kimmel said.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35 p.m. ET, ABC
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