Jimmy Kimmel and Donald Trump have once again fired shots at each other, with the late-night host delivering a scathing response to the US President's latest salvo.
On Thursday's episode of his ABC show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host reacted to Trump's social media post, which suggested he was "a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS". The 79-year-old President also urged the network to "Get the bum off the air!!!"
Kimmel, however, took the criticism in stride and poked fun at Trump's second-term-low 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 said.
Noting Trump's post's time stamp, which came only minutes after the end of Jimmy Kimmel Live's East Coast airing, he praised the President for watching the show live and addressed him directly.
“He watches us live… 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," Kimmel added.
“It's also sweet that even in the middle of the biggest sex scandal in the history of the American presidency, he takes precious time on the toilet to post about our show,” he continued.
Kimmel claimed that when he woke up that day, his wife informed him that Trump had once again called for his firing. “I woke up this morning, I'm in bed, 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 feud is not new. His show was briefly suspended by ABC in September over comments he made following the assassination of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk.
Trump celebrated the suspension, claiming Kimmel's show was "ratings-challenged," adding, "Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
Kimmel was reinstated within a week, after ABC's parent Disney came under severe criticism.
Referring to the mid-September incident, he said, “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, which I presume you are, how about this? I'll go when you go.”
Kimmel ended his monologue by referencing Trump's recent outburst against a Bloomberg reporter, saying, “We'll be a team. Let's ride off into the sunset together – like Butch Cassidy and the Suntan Kid. And until then – if I may borrow a phrase from you… quiet, Piggy!”
The comment was a nod to Trump's "Quiet, piggy" remark to the reporter when she asked him about releasing the Epstein files, a topic that also dominated Kimmel's Wednesday night monologue, which was followed by Trump's post.
Kimmel's contract expires at the conclusion of this season, and it does not appear that he has made a final choice on whether or not to stay beyond that point.
