Jimmy Kimmel slams Trump as a 'bully' after the president took to social media with a fiery roast.
The POTUS has made it clear he isn’t happy about Jimmy Kimmel’s return to TV, taking to Truth Social with an outraged post that even hinted at legal action against ABC.
Kimmel was placed on 'indefinite' suspension earlier this month following comments in his opening monologue about the assassination of far-right commentator Charlie Kirk.
The suspension came after conservative backlash over Kimmel’s claim that the 'MAGA gang' was 'desperately trying' to portray the suspect 'as anything other than one of them,' and 'doing everything they can to score political points' from the tragedy.
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But the drama hasn't stopped since the late-night show returned to air this week.
On Truth Social, Donald Trump wrote: "I can't believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. 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."
On his first show back on Tuesday night (23 September), Kimmel tearfully admitted it was 'never his intention to make light of the murder of a young man' and said he understood why the remarks 'felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both'.
Then, on his second night back on the stage, Kimmel took aim at Trump's social media roast, calling the president an '80s-movie-style bully.'
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In his monologue, he mocked Trump’s accusations that Kimmel was 'yet another arm' of the Democratic Party and Trump’s threat 'to test ABC' over a 'major Illegal Campaign Contribution.'
The comedian claimed: “Only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn’t threatening ABC by threatening ABC."
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Later on, Kimmel defended his own routine targeting of Trump while urging the public to stand up to the president's threats and 'anti-American' attacks on free speech.
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“For those who think I go too hard on Donald Trump, to the point where there are still a lot of people who think I should be pulled off the air…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,” Kimmel explained.
He then compared supporting Trump to 'rooting for Biff from Back to the Future,' adding: “I don’t know about you – I’m with Marty McFly.”
Disney-owned ABC reported that Tuesday’s return show drew record-breaking ratings, with tens of millions watching across ABC broadcast, YouTube and other social media platforms.
“You know a lot of people watched our show last night,” Kimmel said during Wednesday’s monologue, noting it reached 'most of the country, not all of the country.'