Jimmy Kimmel ruthlessly mocked President Trump’s threat to have him canceled once again – as the reinvigorated late night host defiantly stated that he would not back down.
The comedian returned for his second Jimmy Kimmel Live! episode after a brief suspension over controversial comments about Charlie Kirk and branded Trump a ‘bully’ for threatening to sue ABC.
‘There are still a lot of people who think I should be pulled off the air for making fun of Donald Trump,’ Kimmel said about his suspension debacle. ‘So, I want to explain. I talk about Trump more than anything because he’s a bully. I don’t like bullies.’
Kimmel then referenced Trump’s scathing social media post that eviscerated the late night host after he returned to television, reading: ‘I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.’
Kimmel responded: ‘You can’t believe they gave me my job back? I can’t believe they gave you your job back! We’re even.’
The late night continued to read Trump’s threat to sue ABC.
‘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! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad ratings,’ Trump wrote.
Kimmel said: ‘Only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn’t threatening ABC by threatening ABC.’
Jimmy Kimmel (pictured) went right back to his usual diet of jokes spoofing Donald Trump on his second show back from suspension, claiming the president was still threatening him
The ABC host responded to Trump’s (pictured) lengthy Truth Social post that went live shortly after his show finished taping last night, where he suggested he might sue ABC for a second time over Kimmel’s return
Kimmel then attempted to debunk Trump’s next claim, that ‘the White House was told by ABC that his show was canceled.’
‘No, they weren’t,’ Kimmel quipped.
Kimmel then attempted to respond to Trump’s next line: ‘Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there.’
When an audience member tried to interrupt in support, Kimmel snapped back: ‘Shut the f*** up. The freedom of speech is only for me. You do not interrupt the president.’
Kimmel then joked about Trump’s claims that the ABC show’s ratings are terrible and he was fired for them, asking: ‘Has anyone ever been fired for bad ratings on a Wednesday?’
He put up a graphic showing negative polling for the president and continued: ‘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 joked that if Trump tried to sue his show, they’ll pack the courts with Judge Steve Harvey: ‘Survey says, you lose.’
Trump accused ABC of deceit before promising to ‘test’ them out on the move ahead of Kimmel’s first show back on Tuesday night.
In December, ABC News agreed to pay out millions to Trump to settle a lawsuit over assertions made by top anchor George Stephanopoulos that he was found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
It stipulates that the network will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution towards Trump’s presidential library, as well as a note expressing regret about the segment and $1 million in legal fees.
Kimmel wasn’t done with Trump and decided to use the rest of his monologue explaining why he was so obsessed with the president.
‘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, I want to explain, I talk about Trump more than anything because he’s a bully.’
He added that Trump reminded him of an ’80s-style movie bully,’ specifically Biff from Back to the Future, who Kimmel points out was partially based on Trump in his elder form in the sequel.
‘And this is who people are cheering for? I don’t know about you. I’m with Marty McFly.’
He went into an elaborate fantasy of Trump bullying a child at school for lunch money, saying that they combine ‘two things he loves: lunch and money.’
Kimmel bizarrely suggested Trump would ‘take that peanut butter and jelly sandwich your mom cut in half like a triangle for you. He will gobble it up in front of your face and then he’ll eat your little Ziploc bag of Oreos, too.’
Kimmel that Trump reminded him of an ’80s-style movie bully,’ specifically Biff Tannen from Back to the Future (played by actor Tom Wilson), who Kimmel points out was partially based on Trump in his elder form in the sequel
Kimmel accused the president of trying to threaten him with further censorship
He wasn’t done, saying the president would ‘take the note your mother put in your lunchbox and he’ll read it aloud to everyone.’
The fantasy then turned physical, with the imagined version of Trump ‘grab[bing] you by your nipples and he’ll twist them until you have two holes in your La Tigra shirt because your parents couldn’t afford an Izod. And he’ll stuff you in a locker and he’ll stomp on your trapper keeper and slam the door.
‘That is Donald Trump, okay? He does it to everyone. He did it at the UN yesterday,’ Kimmel finally concluded.
The show then finally turned away from Trump, doing some jokes about how the show’s staff’s families and friends reacted to the news, before riffing on rumors he only kept his show because he has dirt on everyone in Hollywood.
‘That’s 100 percent true, by the way,’ Kimmel deadpanned.
He also ripped on Border Czar Tom Homan’s alleged bribery scandal, as well as the DOJ not investigating it because it was too busy looking into the elevator that stopped for Trump and his wife Melania at the United Nations yesterday.
The bit ended with Kimmel thanking some more celebrity friends, including the 400 celebrities who had signed a letter condemning his suspension.
First guest Ethan Hawke popped out and celebrated alongside him, before Kimmel pointed out the actor hadn’t signed the letter.
The bit ended with Kimmel thanking some more celebrity friends, including the 400 celebrities who had signed a letter condemning his suspension. First guest Ethan Hawke popped out and celebrated alongside him, before Kimmel pointed out the actor hadn’t signed the letter
In a comic twist, Hawke told Kimmel to look in another direction while he physically signed the letter.
It comes just a night after the host gave a tearful 20-minute monologue in which he claimed he ‘never intended to make light of’ MAGA icon Charlie Kirk’s death.
Kimmel’s late-night ABC show was yanked off air by Disney last week after he stated that Kirk’s killer was a Trump supporter. In reality, the assassin was a liberal who seethed with hatred at Kirk over his conservative, Christian ethics.
‘I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,’ Kimmel said.
‘I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.’
He then proceeded to lash out at Trump over censorship.
The host received a standing ovation as he told his audience: ‘A government threat to silence a comedian the government doesn’t like is anti-American.’
Kimmel acknowledged his employer of more than 20 years was taking an enormous risk in putting him back on TV.
It comes just a night after the host gave a tearful 20-minute monologue in which he claimed he ‘never intended to make light of’ MAGA icon Charlie Kirk’s death
‘Unfortunately, and I think unjustly, this puts them at risk,’ he said. ‘The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from their job.
‘Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.’
Kimmel broke down when discussing what he said about the assassination of Kirk – but he never once said he was sorry.
He said it was not ‘my intention to blame any specific group for the actions what – it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual,’ he said.
The host’s return to late night following his suspension saw his ratings triple and reach his largest audience in over a decade.
Monday’s episode, which was still preempted in 23 percent of the country over Kimmel’s comments on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, drew 6.26 million viewers to ABC.
Typically, Kimmel gets about 1.8 million viewers each night on television. The numbers released by ABC do not include viewership from streaming services.
The network also noted that Kimmel’s emotional, 20-minute monologue has been viewed over 25 million times on social media.
The over 15 million views the monologue has gotten on YouTube are a record for the program.
Among adults under 50 – late night’s most prized demographic – the episode was Kimmel’s most-watched since a show from March 2015 that followed ABC’s broadcast of the Academy Awards.
However, a spokesman for Nexstar said Wednesday that Kimmel will continue to be preempted from its stations while the company evaluates his show.
Together, the Nexstar and Sinclair groups account for about a quarter of ABC’s affiliates, many in smaller cities such as Nashville, Tennessee; Lubbock, Texas; or Topeka, Kansas.
‘We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at the (ABC parent) Walt Disney Co., with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve,’ Nexstar said.
