Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel responded Wednesday to former President Trump’s pointed social media post criticizing Kimmel earlier in the day.
“It looks like I’ve once again pissed off our Kentucky-fried former president, who apparently — with everything that’s going on — is still hurt by my joke about him at the Oscars,” Kimmel said at the beginning of his monologue during “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Wednesday’s broadcast.
“You know Donald Trump is in the first week of a criminal trial, the first president to be tried for a crime, for paying hush money to a pornographic movie star,” Kimmel continued.
Despite being in court “all day” on Monday and Tuesday, Trump took the day off Wednesday to write the post criticizing the late-night host, Kimmel told viewers.
“Rant-a Clause woke up bright and early to post 165 venomous words about you,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel’s comments come in response to the former president’s Truth Social post Wednesday morning in which Trump criticized Kimmel. The former president called the late-night host “stupid” and “foolish” and criticized his performance as host of the Oscars. Trump famously criticized Kimmel during the awards ceremony last month, and Kimmel then read Trump’s post aloud on live television as a real-time review of his performance.
“Stupid Jimmy Kimmel, who still hasn’t recovered from his horrendous performance and huge drop in ratings as host of the Oscars, especially when he showed that he suffered from TDS, commonly known as TRUMP STRIP SYNDROME, to the entire world reading on air my TRUTH about the terrible job he was doing that night,” Trump wrote on Wednesday, later adding: “Allegedly his wife, and even management, begged him not to do it, ‘DON’T READ HIS TRUTH, JIMMY, PLEASE DON’T DO THIS,’ they said.”
“He was made to look like a FOOL, which he is, and at the same time go down in television history as the WORST PRESENTER EVER OF THE ACADEMY AWARDS ONCE WON!” Trump continued.
Kimmel added later in Wednesday’s broadcast that despite being a former president currently on trial with 34 criminal charges against him in the hush money case, Trump is “still furious about the Oscars.”
“That was five weeks ago. My parents don’t even care anymore. The only person who still talks about this joke is him. It really must have affected him,” Kimmel continued.
Kimmel read through Trump’s entire post on Wednesday to reject separate claims made by Trump.
“There is only one person who suffers from ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’ His name is Donald Trump,” Kimmel said, responding to Trump’s claims that he suffers from “TDS.”
Kimmel also rejected Trump’s suggestion that Kimmel’s wife “begged him not” to read Trump’s tweet aloud at the ceremony.
In a nod to Will Smith’s rebuke of Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars, Kimmel said, “And by the way, keep my wife’s name out of your damn mouth.”
Kimmel showed that audience ratings for the awards show rose this year, despite Trump’s claim to the contrary. He also noted that he has been asked to host the Oscars again next year, rejecting Trump’s claim that he is the worst host in history.
“I don’t know, that’s probably why I was asked to host the show again next year, which I wasn’t planning on doing, but now I could,” Kimmel said. “You know what? Maybe you can watch it on TV in the Rikers rec room with all the guys.
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