Jimmy Kimmel offered President Donald Trump a reality check on Thursday night after his ratings surged, thanks in part to criticism from Trump himself.
“This has been a tumultuous week,” said Kimmel, who was suspended last week after comments about conservatives’ reactions after the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk.
When Kimmel returned to TV on Tuesday, Trump threatened ABC for airing the show ― and some affiliates still aren’t carrying it.
But interest in Kimmel has rarely been higher.
“Even though we are still being preempted in 60 American cities, on Tuesday, we had our second-highest-rated show in almost 23 years on the air,” Kimmel said.
Some 6.3 million people tuned in, about three and a half times his usual audience, and the monologue racked up more than 21 million views on YouTube.
“And I want to say we couldn’t have done it without you, Mr. President,” Kimmel gloated. “Thank you very much.”
Trump this week gave Kimmel some free publicity when he railed against the show’s return about an hour before it aired. Trump said Kimmel’s “audience is GONE” and added, “Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
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Turns out the audience isn’t gone, and not just for the first episode back. The second ― on Wednesday ― so far has more than 7 million views on YouTube. That’s a drop from Tuesday, but far above the roughly 2 million views the segments usually receive.
See more in his Thursday night monologue:
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