Topline
Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night mocked President Donald Trump’s poor approval ratings as he responded to the president’s apparent legal threat against ABC for bringing the comedian’s late-night talk show back on the air.
In his opening monologue, Kimmel talked about receiving “so many texts, from so many people” about Tuesday’s episode and then said: “I did hear from one very special friend moments after we taped our show last night,” as he pulled up the president’s Truth Social post.
In response to Trump saying, “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” the comedian shot back: “I can't believe we gave you your job back.”
Kimmel also dismissed Trump’s claim about ABC telling the White House that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” had been cancelled, saying, “No, they weren’t.”
Kimmel then read out Trump’s line about his content putting the “network in jeopardy” and said: “You hear that? There's the threat again.”
On Trump’s apparent legal threat, Kimmel said: “Only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn't threatening ABC by threatening ABC.”
Kimmel then read out the line about him rotting in bad ratings as he pulled up a graphic of the president’s disapproval numbers and said: “He does know bad ratings, he has some of the worst ratings any president has ever had.”
“You almost have to feel sorry for the people who work for him who try to clean up the messes… They go to all these lengths to say, "Oh, it wasn't coercion. The president was just musing." And then, 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,” Kimmel added.
In a post made just an hour before Kimmel returned to air on Tuesday, Trump claimed Kimmel gets poor ratings and “puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.” The president then accused Kimmel of being “yet another arm” of the Democratic National Committee, without offering evidence, and suggested that airing his show “would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution.” Trump then said he will test ABC and signaled he intends to take the broadcaster to court on this matter.
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