Donald Trump Is The Only Person Who Will Admit That He’s Still Watching Jimmy Kimmel

If President Donald Trump really believes that Jimmy Kimmel Live! should leave television due to low ratings, then why is he Kimmel’s most loyal viewer in the 55+ demo?

Earlier this year, FCC chair Brendan Carr shocked the country when he seemingly threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of ABC affiliates if they did not pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live! over the host's commentary on the conservative reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk. Hours later, Disney CEO Bob Iger suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely – just for the show to return after less than a week following mass public outcry.

When Kimmel came back to work on September 23rd, 6.2 million viewers across the country tuned in to hear his impassioned monologue about the state of free speech and political discourse in America, nearly four times Kimmel's average nightly audience. Then, over the following weeks, Jimmy Kimmel Live! reminded viewers that late-night TV in 2025 is all about cycling through the same four or five topical jokes as your competitors every single night, and Kimmel’s ratings slowly but surely regressed to the mean.

However, one die-hard Jimmy Kimmel Live!-watcher is still fighting to keep Kimmel’s name in the news, as Trump continues to rage against the late-night show while unintentionally revealing how closely he still follows Kimmel’s career.

At this point, Trump might be responsible for bringing more attention to ABC's comedy offerings than anyone not named Quinta Brunson.

During his opening monologue on last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the late-night host hit Trump in all the expected weak points. Kimmel specifically hammered the President's response to “Hurricane Epstein,” or the ongoing push to release the un-redacted FBI files on deceased sex trafficker and Trump associate Jeffrey Epstein. 

Kimmel's coverage of of the controversy added little to the rampant discussion over whether or not the Trump Administration will ever allow the public full access to the government's records on the pedophile ring that allegedly catered to the rich and powerful. The best punchline Kimmel could muster on the subject of the Epstein bill was, simply, “The vote in congress went 427 to one. It was such a landslide, Trump might actually be able to re-bury the Epstein files under it.”

Even though every late-night host, comedian and politically-minded Twitter-user has spent the last few weeks furiously writing their own, better burns on President Trump and his mysterious ties to Epstein, at 12:49 AM Eastern time this morning, twelve minutes after Jimmy Kimmel Live! rolled credits, Trump took to Truth Social to shoot back at Kimmel. Hilariously, the timing of Trump's post suggests that the President waited to draft a response to the show until after he finished watching T-Pain's performance of “Club Husband".

“Why does ABC Fake News keep Jimmy Kimmel, a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air?” Trump asked his followers in the wee hours of the morning as ABC transitioned from Jimmy Kimmel Live! to Nightline. “Why do the TV Syndicates put up with it? Also, totally biased coverage. Get the bum off the air!!!”

Of course, Trump's line of questioning begs a couple queries in response, which is: Why is the President staying up past midnight watching Jimmy Kimmel Live!, thus personally boosting the show's viewership himself? After his spat with Kimmel led to the largest ratings boost in the history of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, why does Trump keep inspiring the liberal wine moms of the country to watch the late-night show out of spite?

Despite his place atop the President's enemies list, Kimmel is far from the most cogent, incisive or hilarious voice of dissent among the political comedy community. And, yet, Trump can't stop rage-baiting himself every night as he tunes into ABC to hear Kimmel's next joke about his penis size, his skin color or the texture of his hair.

However, tonight should fair better for the Commander in Chief – in the new episode, Kimmel will host the gentle tones of indie rock band Lord Huron, which should lull Trump to sleep before he writes another Jimmy Kimmel Live! review.