Jimmy Kimmel reacts to Donald Trump calling him a 'lousy host' after Oscars joke: 'I love that this bothered him so much'

The late-night host read the former president's review of the Oscars during its broadcast before asking, "Isn't it past your jail time?"

The 2024 Oscars may be over, but the feud between Jimmy Kimmel and Donald Trump rages ever onward. 

The late-night host opened Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live by addressing the former president’s Fox News interview in which he attacked Kimmel and labelled him “not a talented guy” and a “lousy host” at the Oscars. The Apprentice host’s remarks come after Kimmel read a part of Trump’s disjointed social media review of the award ceremony during its live broadcast before asking, “Isn’t it past your jail time?”

Kimmel revealed on his show that he was “at my niece and nephew’s music recital” when he first learned about Trump’s remarks. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “Donald Trump has said I’m not talented so many times Eric [Trump] is starting to get jealous.”

“But what he doesn’t realize is that I love this,” Kimmel continued. “I love that this bothered him so much. I love that Fox picked a news guy nobody knows to interview him. And I especially love when he tries to spin the fact that everyone was laughing at him into a positive. By the way, you forget why it went viral all over the world.”

A clip of Kimmel telling the joke at the ceremony to laughter and applause from the crowd — including Margot Robbie — was then shown. “Barbie was laughing at you!” Kimmel declared. “Not only were they laughing at you on Oscar Sunday, there are now dozens of ‘past your jail time’ shirts for sale. There are mugs, there are tank tops, there’s an ‘isn’t it past your jail time’ backpack. People are writing it outside the Trump hotel. There are billboards in Pennsylvania, in Florida, and there are a lot more to come.”

He added, “But if only I’d kept my mouth shut — imagine him telling anyone they should’ve kept their mouth shut. I mean, that should be on his tombstone.”

Kimmel then challenged Trump to join him and find out which one of them is the smartest once and for all. “Maybe you’re right about me being dumb,” he said. “You know, we should take one of those cognitive tests or an IQ test together or maybe we could sit down for a long game of Scrabble and find out who has the bigly-er brain. I would love to do that with you.”

Still, Kimmel later explained that he understood that Trump was “wounded” by his joke and was “lashing out” as a result.

“Even though I know his intent was to hurt me, I’m going to focus on the positive things he said,” he joked, before cutting to a heavily-edited rendition of Trump’s interview that made it look as if the Apprentice host had said only nice things about him. 

“Thank you. You know what, it's very big of you to admit that," he joked in response to the clip. "And I’m sorry I ruined your Sunday night with Melania. I know how many great late night talks you two have.”

Watch Kimmel react to Trump's comments in the clip above.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.