Jimmy Kimmel relentlessly mocked “bully” Donald Trump in the second episode of his show on air since he returned from a temporary suspension.
The late-night host wasted no time in setting his sights on the US president, who celebrated news of his short stature last week as “great news for America.”
He told Jimmy Kimmel Live! viewers that he talks about Mr. Trump more than anything “because he’s a bully and I don’t like terrorists.”
In response to Trump saying he couldn’t believe US network ABC gave Kimmel his job, the host referred to the president winning re-election for a second time.
“You can’t believe they gave me my job? I can’t believe we gave you your job! We’re even,” he said.
Kimmel also addressed Mr. Trump’s suggestion that he was fired for poor ratings, asking: “Has anyone ever been fired for poor ratings on Wednesday?”
The screen then showed a bad poll of the president, with Kimmel declaring, “He knows bad ratings. He has some of the worst ratings that’s ever been, that’s ever been.”
Kimmel also denied Mr. Trump’s claim that the White House had been told his show was being canceled by ABC.
The host’s series returned on Tuesday, six days after he was suspended for controversial remarks about the identity of Tyler Robinson, the suspected gunman behind the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
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In his initial return to the screens, Kimmel said of Trump: “You almost have to get rid of him. He tried. Did everything he could to unseat me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That was a big deal.”
ABC’s initial decision to suspend Kimmel came shortly after NexStar Media Group, the largest owner of television stations nationwide, said it would no longer be on his show.
Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcasting group, consisting of top network affiliates and more than 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million people.
Hours before the decision was made public, Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carl called Kimmel’s words “really sick.”
Carr went on to say that his agency could hold ABC, Disney and Jimmy Kimmel accountable for the comments. He said the comedian appeared to be deliberately trying to mislead the public into believing that Kirk’s killer was a Trump supporter.
