Jimmy Kimmel Fires Back At Donald Trump’s Threats To Sue ABC

The TV host dissected Trump’s statements, pointing out that the president was trying to “prove he wasn’t threatening ABC by threatening ABC.”

Kimmel’s show was suspended when he made some controversial remarks over Charlie Kirk’s death but was reinstated after a brief six-day hiatus. 

During the most recent episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Kimmel reacted to Trump’s statements over the reinstatement of his show. 

The 57-year-old TV host read the president’s post line by line, making jokes about it and firing shots back at him. 

He referred to Trump as a mad hatter and quoted his Truth Social post, saying, “The mad red hatter wrote, ‘I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.’ You can’t believe they gave me my job back? I can’t believe they gave you your job back! We’re even.”

Kimmel debunked Trump’s claims that the White House was told by ABC that his show was cancelled, saying, “No, they weren’t.” And when an audience member tried to interrupt him, he jokingly silenced him, saying, “Shut the f— up. The freedom of speech is only for me. You do not interrupt the president.”

Trump’s post further read, “Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”

Kimmel then pointed out that the president’s words indeed sounded like a threat to ABC, despite his claims of not threatening the network. 

Still responding to Trump’s statements, the comedian sarcastically expressed empathy for people close to the president, as they are often tasked with cleaning up the “messes” he creates. 

“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 — and says it was ratings that got me fired. Has anyone ever been fired for bad ratings on a Wednesday?” he fired. 

Kimmel further reacted to Trump’s wish that he would “rot” in his bad ratings, saying that the president himself isn’t unfamiliar with bad ratings. He pulled up several polls from The Washington Post, The Economist, and other bodies, pointing out the number of unfavorable ratings Trump has gotten in recent times. 

“So, on behalf of all of us, welcome to the crappy ratings club. Mr. President,” he concluded. 

Kimmel’s comments came after Donald Trump shared a lengthy rant on his Truth Social platform, in which he threatened to sue ABC for bringing the TV host back to the airwaves. 

In the 75-year-old politician’s rant, he slammed Kimmel for being talentless and for not having an audience. He then directly attacked ABC, saying that he had sued the network before and could do it again. 

“Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million. This one sounds even more lucrative,” Trump wrote, according to The Blast.

Trump’s post was in reaction to Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night television. However, while the president was unhappy to see his rival back on the airwaves, Kimmel’s audience felt the opposite way. 

When the TV host made his return on September 23, he emotionally revealed that he never intended to “make light of the murder of a young man,” per The Blast.

He also slammed Trump for not being able to “take a joke” and tagged his administration’s attempts at silencing comedians as “anti-American.” This was met with loud cheers and a standing ovation from the audience members, who were visibly pleased to see the return of his show. 

Later in the show, Kimmel treated fans to a pleasant surprise by bringing the popular actor and film producer, Robert De Niro, to join him in a sketch. During the sketch, they both trolled Donald Trump and FCC chairperson Brendan Carr. 

De Niro played the role of an enraged Carr who questioned Kimmel over the monologue that got him suspended. 

As Kimmel and the fictional Carr conversed, the former accused the latter of suppressing free speech, but the fictional Carr hilariously replied, “ain’t free no more. We’re charging by the word now,” per The Blast.

Kimmel and De Niro also trolled Trump for his response to criticism. After that, they concluded with a satire based on the president’s recent remarks on how using Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism.