Donald Trump attacks Jimmy Kimmel over Oscars jab: 'This guy's even dumber than I thought'

"The thing went viral, it’s been all over the world now, and all he had to do is keep his mouth shut,” the former president said.

The 2024 Oscars may feel like ancient history a week after the ceremony, but one person still isn’t ready to let them go: Donald Trump.

In an interview with Fox News’ Howard Kurtz on Sunday, the former president once again criticized Jimmy Kimmel’s hosting style and explained why he posted inflammatory comments during the Academy Awards. “Jimmy Kimmel — every night, he hits me, I guess,” Trump said. “His ratings are terrible, he’s not a talented guy. I hear he hits me all the time, so I figured I’d hit him, because I thought he was a lousy host.”

The former Apprentice host penned a disjointed rant against Kimmel during the telecast. "Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars," Trump wrote on truthsocial.com. "His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be. Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC 'talent,' George Slopanopoulos. He would make everybody on stage look bigger, stronger, and more glamorous."

Trump's post continued, "Also a really bad politically correct show tonight, and for years - Disjointed, boring, and very unfair. Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths."

On Sunday’s Fox News interview, Trump said he was surprised to hear his own words read back to him by Kimmel during the telecast shortly after posting them. “I never expected he was gonna be reading it. Just prior to the Movie of the Year — which is the big one, right? That’s the big one. I think they get the man, the woman, now the Movie of the Year — he reads my Truth on air… and now the big story is that they all begged him not to do it.”

After Kimmel read the Truth Social post during the live awards show, he took a jab at Trump: "I'm surprised you're still [up] — isn’t it past your jail time?"

In an interview with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos the following morning, the Jimmy Kimmel Live host said he was advised not to read Trump’s message during the ceremony. “They’re like, ‘You’ve got a little bit of time’ and I was like, ‘I’m reading the Trump tweet,’ and they’re like, ‘No, no, don’t read that,'" Kimmel said. "[I was like] ‘Yes, I am.’”

Trump noted that Kimmel’s invocation of his post ended up bringing it much more attention than it would have received otherwise. “I said, ‘This guy’s even dumber than I thought,’” he recalled. “The thing went viral, it’s been all over the world now, and all he had to do is keep his mouth shut.”

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.