Jimmy Kimmel came out swinging on Tuesday night as he simply slammed President Donald Trump for celebrating the temporary suspension of his infamous show Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week. He called Trump both “anti-American” as well as a “bully” and he even accused him of silencing the voices raised against him.
Kimmel, 57, gave a warning that Donald Trump is not only gunning for the comedians but also the journalists by leveraging lawsuits as well as intimidating them whenever he doesn’t like something.
Kimmel also reflected on how personal the fight between them has become as he said during an emotional monologue – “The President of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”
He didn’t stop here, as he further talked about the President bragging about forcing CBS to drop Stephen Colbert, and his present target is The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon and NBC’s Seth Meyers. “He was somehow able to squeeze Colbert out of CBS. Then he turned his sights on me, and now he’s openly rooting for NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and the hundreds of Americans who work for their shows, who don’t make millions of dollars.” He even urged the viewers not to stay quiet during this scene – “I hope that if that happens or if there’s even any hint of that happening, you will be 10 times as loud as you were this week.”
Talking about his monologue, Kimmel warned the people of the country that the President has only just started a war against comedy. “We have to speak out against this bully. He’s not stopping. And it’s not just comedy. He’s gunning for our journalists, too. He’s suing them, he’s bullying them.”
He also reflected on the policy brought in by Trump ally Pete Hegseth, which requires the Pentagon reporters to sign pledges limiting what they can publish—even unclassified info. He cracked a joke before getting serious again by saying – “They want to pick and choose what the news is. … Walter Cronkite must be spinning in his grave right now. He’s dead, right?”
He reminded viewers of comedy’s long tradition of pushing boundaries. “One thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, and Howard Stern is that a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American. That’s anti-American.”
Kimmel also grew emotional when discussing Erika Kirk, widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who stunned the country by publicly forgiving her husband’s killer. “That is an example we should follow,” Kimmel said through tears. “If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was … A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply. And I hope it touches many.”
