Trump's Still Raging Over Jimmy Kimmel: 'All He Had To Do Is Keep His Mouth Shut'
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Donald Trump again attacked Jimmy Kimmel over the television host’s nightly jokes and for dinging the former president during the Oscars broadcast earlier this month.
“Jimmy Kimmel is, every night, he hits me I guess, his ratings are terrible,” Trump told Fox News host Howard Kurtz on Sunday. “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.”
Trump ripped into Kimmel in a post on his Truth Social website in the middle of the Oscars. Kimmel then read that message live on the air during the ceremony, and quipped that he was surprised Trump was still watching.
“Isn’t it past your jail time?” Kimmel joked.
In his rambling interview with Kurtz, Trump claimed a victory of sorts in Kimmel reading his message.
“He probably, stupidly, you know, he had to, he had to act in a short period of time, like minutes, right? He had minutes because he’s on air, he sees this thing and he wants to go out there and he wants to, I guess, confront me and so and he ends up reading my Truth,” Trump said. “I said, ‘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.”
Trump: Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings are terrible. He's not a talented guy… pic.twitter.com/k9ZP9MFlQf
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 17, 2024
Oscars producer Molly McNearney, who is also Kimmel’s wife, said after the show that she tried to talk Kimmel out of reading the Trump message.
After the joke went viral, however, McNearney admitted she was wrong.
“I feel like my instincts are usually right, but I was totally off on that,” she told Variety.
Trump has for years obsessed over his treatment on late night television, and has publicly attacked Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, “Saturday Night Live” and other hosts and shows over their jokes at his expense.
When he was president, he also wanted to punish the networks and shows that criticized or made fun of him. Last year, Rolling Stone reported that Trump had White House officials call Disney, the parent company of ABC, which broadcasts Kimmel’s show, to demand they act against the host.
