Jimmy Kimmel offered rare thanks to Donald Trump after achieving a huge boost in ratings.
The late-night host amassed some of the highest viewing figures of his career after returning from a six-day suspension – prompting him to thank the US president for the role he played.
“It’s been a tumultuous week. Even though we’re still being pre-empted in 60 American cities, on Tuesday, we had our second-highest-rated show in almost 23 years on the air,” Kimmel told viewers on Thursday (25 September).
“The monologue from Tuesday night has more than 21 million views just on YouTube alone. And I want to say we couldn’t have done it without you, Mr President. Thank you very much.”
According to US viewer measurement firm Nielsen, the first episode that aired after his brief axing by ABC was watched by 6.2 million people – four times more than Kimmel’s typical audience.
The host was suspended for his controversial remarks about the identity of Tyler Robinson, the suspected gunman behind the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Mr Trump celebrated the decision, calling it “great news for America”. Upon Kimmel’s return to the series, the host has relentlessly mocked the president, calling him a “bully”.
In response to Mr Trump stating he couldn’t believe that US network ABC had given Kimmel his job back, the host referenced the president winning the election for a second time.
“You can’t believe they gave me my job back? I can’t believe we gave you your job back! We’re even,” he joked.
Kimmel also addressed Mr Trump’s suggestion that he had been fired for poor ratings, asking: “Has anyone ever been fired for bad ratings on a Wednesday?”
The screen then showed poor polling for the president, with Kimmel stating: “He does know bad ratings. He has some of the worst ratings any president has ever had.”
ABC’s initial decision to suspend Kimmel came soon after Nexstar Media Group, the largest owner of television stations across the country, said it would no longer air his show.
Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcasting group, made up of top network affiliates, with more than 200 owned or partner stations in 116 US markets reaching 220 million people.
Hours before the decision was made public, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, called Kimmel’s words “truly sick”.
Carr went on to say that his agency could hold ABC, Disney, and Kimmel accountable for the comments, and claimed that the comic appeared to be making an intentional effort to mislead the public into believing Kirk’s assassin was a Trump supporter.
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