A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Source” newspaper. you can Sign up for free here,
Jimmy Kimmel said, “Every five weeks, President Trump comes out and wants me fired.”
It happened again this week, when the President posted on Truth Social asking why ABC would air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” On the air.
Kimmel responded on Thursday night’s show, pointing out that Trump’s post came at 12:49 p.m., “11 minutes after the show ended on the East Coast.”
He told Trump directly, “Thank you for watching us on TV instead of YouTube. We appreciate it. And I’ll tell you, the irony is that it’s viewers like you that keep us on the air.”
Kimmel, whose contract with ABC is up in May, said, “Mr. President, I admire your tenacity. If you’re watching tonight, as I assume you are, how about this: I’ll go when you go, okay? We’ll be a team. Let’s ride off into the sunset together like Butch Cassidy and the Suntan Kid. And until then, if I can borrow a phrase from you: ‘Calm, ‘Piggy.'”
Trump’s “piggy” comment to a Bloomberg reporter last week drew widespread outrage this week, as did his disparaging remarks to ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce on Tuesday.
One of Bruce’s questions about the government’s Jeffrey Epstein files prompted Trump to criticize her tone, criticizing ABC as a “suckless company” and encouraging the FCC to revoke the network’s license.
Bruce was praised by fellow members of the White House press corps for asking important questions despite the president’s offensive comments.
After tense talks in the Oval Office, the White House laid out a list of complaints against ABC and claimed the news division had decided to “wage war” against Trump and his voters.
ABC and its parent company, Disney, declined to comment, opting to let the news division’s work speak for itself.
On Wednesday’s “Good Morning America,” co-host Robin Roberts referenced these “extremely challenging times” and thanked Bruce for “your willingness to ask these types of questions” of those in power.
The president’s latest attack against Kimmel came Wednesday night, when Kimmel spoke on air about reversing Trump’s course and signing a bill forcing the Justice Department to release Epstein material.
Kimmel quipped, “We’re one step closer to answering the question of what the President knew and how old these women were when they knew it.”
Trump wrote that Kimmel “has no talent and television ratings are terrible” and asked, “Why do TV syndicates tolerate this? Also, completely biased coverage. Get that crap off the air!!!”
Kimmel’s ratings are better than Trump’s, but that’s beside the point. The point is that Trump wants to drive a wedge between Kimmel and local stations, which he has called “syndicates.”
The two big owners of ABC-affiliated stations, Nexstar and Sinclair, are requiring Trump’s man in charge of regulating the stations, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, to approve the pending deals.
Nexstar and Sinclair both shut down Kimmel’s show in September after Carr condemned Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer. The highly unusual blackout highlighted long-standing tensions between local affiliates and the national network, as well as the limited power of affiliates.
ABC briefly suspended Kimmel’s show nationwide, but brought it back within days, leaving Nexstar and Sinclair no choice but to resume broadcasting it.
Earlier this week Carr announced that the FCC would review relationships between networks and affiliates, though his agency has little power to effect change.
As for Kimmel, he appeared to be used to Trump’s angry posts.
“I woke up this morning, I was in bed, my wife came out of the bathroom, she found her phone,” Kimmel said. “She says, ‘Umm, Trump tweeted that you should be fired again.’ I was like, ‘Oh.’ And then I went downstairs and made bagels for the kids.”
He also commented that “If you get that many threats from a neighbor, you’ll have no problem getting a restraining order. The judge will say, ‘Yeah, looks like that guy’s gone crazy.'”
Trump also recently took out his anger on another late-night comic, NBC’s Seth Meyers; Last Saturday, Trump said Meyers had an “incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome” and that “NBC should fire her immediately!”
Carr reposted Trump’s message on X without further comment.
Meyers brought up Trump’s complaint on Monday’s edition of “Late Night,” saying “Being attacked by the president this weekend doesn’t make me special in any way, shape or form. I was simply on the same dirt list as Christopher Wray, James Comey, Indiana Republicans, Thomas Massie, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene and former President Joe Biden.”
<a href=