Jimmy Kimmel has clapped back at Donald Trump, using the president’s own viral retort against him in a twist of irony.
The host, whose series Jimmy Kimmel Live! was temporarily suspended earlier this year, trolled Trump for seemingly watching the show in real time Wednesday night and firing off a Truth Social post shortly after the late-night program finished airing.
Kimmel used Trump’s latest tirade to his advantage during Thursday night’s opening monologue when he welcomed those watching from the White House before adding, “And I’ll tell you, it’s viewers like you who keep us on the air – ironically.”
Continuing to address Trump — who continues to campaign for the cancelation of Kimmel’s show — the host said, “If you’re watching tonight, which I presume you are, how about this: I’ll go when you go, OK? We’ll be a team.
“Let’s ride off into the sunset together like Butch Cassidy and the Sun Tan Kid,” he continued, seemingly jabbing at Trump’s infamous orange skin before delivering the final punch: “And until then, if I may borrow a phrase from you: ‘Quiet, piggy.’”
Kimmel was referencing Trump’s caught-on-camera quote while scolding a female journalist aboard Air Force One earlier this week.
Elsewhere during Thursday night’s show, Kimmel reflected on discovering Trump had launched yet another rant in his direction – and praised Trump for inadvertently keeping him on the air.
“I woke up this morning, I’m in bed. My wife comes out of the bathroom. She’s got her phone. She goes, ‘Um, Trump tweeted you should be fired again.’ I was like, ‘Oh.’ And then I went downstairs and made bagels for the kids.”
He also quipped about losing count of how many times Trump has tried to get him axed from ABC. “Every five weeks, he flips out and wants me fired,” Kimmel said. “If you got this many threats from a neighbor, you’d have no problem getting a restraining order. The judge would be like, ‘Yeah, sounds like the guy’s nuts.’”
Kimmel said he admires Trump’s tenacity in trying to get him fired, but suggested he should give up: “You tried to get me fired in September. It didn’t work.”
He also highlighted that the president keeps referring to the late-night show’s poor ratings, before introducing a montage of news reports covering Trump’s plummeting poll numbers.
“He keeps saying we have bad ratings. And you should listen to him, because if anyone knows about bad ratings, it’s that guy,” Kimmel said.
In September, ABC announced it had suspended Kimmel’s late-night show “indefinitely” after the host’s comments about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The move comes after Kimmel said on his show: “We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.”
Trump quickly took to social media to gloat over Kimmel’s situation. “Great News for America: The ratings-challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” he posted on Truth Social.
Kimmel returned to screens the following week and emotionally told viewers: “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”
His opening monologue garnered more than 13 million views on YouTube, and 5.7 million views on Instagram in less than a day.
