Kimmel nods to big ratings, heckles Trump as an ‘80s-movie-style bully’ in second post-suspension show
By John Liu, CNN
(CNN) — Jimmy Kimmel opened his second night back on the late-night stage by taking on President Donald Trump’s latest attacks against him and his network ABC, describing the president as a “80s-movie-style bully.”
In his opening monologue, Kimmel performed a sentence-by-sentence roast of Trump’s social media post from Tuesday, in which the president accused the comedian of being “yet another arm” of the Democratic Party and threatened “to test ABC” for airing content tantamount to “a major Illegal Campaign Contribution.”
“Only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn’t threatening ABC by threatening ABC,” Kimmel quipped Wednesday night.
Kimmel defended his own routine heckling of the president, echoing his Tuesday night return monologue in which he urged the public to stand up to Trump’s threats and “anti-American” attacks on free speech.
“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 joked that backing Trump was like “rooting for Biff from Back to the Future,” referring to the main antagonist of the 1985 film. “I don’t know about you – I’m with Marty McFly,” he added.
Wednesday’s show was the second since “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was yanked off the air for nearly a week after Kimmel sparked a controversy with comments about activist Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.
Disney’s ABC first announced Kimmel’s show was suspended “indefinitely” following conservative outcry over Kimmel’s assertion that the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying” to characterize the suspect “as anything other than one of them.” Kimmel also claimed that Trump loyalists were “doing everything they can to score political points” from the assassination.
After Kimmel’s comments were publicized by right-wing websites and TV shows, the Trump-aligned FCC chairman Brendan Carr called it “the sickest conduct possible” and suggested that the FCC could move to revoke ABC affiliate licenses. Carr later downplayed his role in the Kimmel drama, casting it as a dispute between local station owners and the national network.
On Tuesday, Kimmel delivered a powerful and emotional comeback, championing free speech and taking jabs at Trump and at those trying to censor his show.
“This show is not important,” Kimmel told viewers. “What’s important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
He also addressed the remarks that led ABC to suspend his show, saying it was not his “intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”
ABC said Tuesday’s return show attracted record-breaking ratings – with tens of millions seeing Kimmel’s monologue across the ABC broadcast, YouTube and social media platforms – something Kimmel acknowledged Wednesday.
“You know a lot of people watched our show last night,” Kimmel said during Wednesday’s monologue, though noting it was seen by “most of the country, not all of the country.”
Kimmel was alluding to the ongoing pre-emption of his show by Sinclair and Nexstar, two major TV station groups that together own at least 64 ABC affiliates in nearly 30 states.
“We are still not on the air on a number of ABC affiliates, including Seattle, Portland, Washington, DC, Nashville, New Orleans, St Louis, Salt Lake City, about 30 more,” he said.
Still, Kimmel’s return Tuesday prompted criticisms from many, including Vice President JD Vance, who said the late-night host had failed to apologize for his comments about Kirk.
“I watched it and look, in some ways it was kind of kind-hearted,” Vance said in an interview with NewsNation’s Reshad Hudson. “On the other hand, he didn’t actually say sorry to Charlie Kirk or his family.”
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CNN’s Brian Stelter, Dan Heching, Alejandra Jaramillo and Kit Maher contributed reporting.
