Kimmel-Trump: The war is on, and the ratings are on fire

Jimmy Kimmel’s return to the airwaves with his late-night show drew record ratings, delivering the highest-performing regularly scheduled episode in over a decade.

The comeback followed ABC’s decision to pull the show after backlash from the Trump administration over Kimmel’s comments criticizing Donald Trump and Republican leaders’ response to the death of Charlie Kirk.

According to NBC, the episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! drew 6.26 million total viewers, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings, marking the show’s highest-performing regularly scheduled episode in more than a decade.

The achievement was all the more remarkable given that the program did not air on nearly a quarter of U.S. television stations, as two major ABC affiliate owners, Nexstar and Sinclair, refused to broadcast it despite Disney’s decision to approve Kimmel’s return to the air.

The YouTube episode titled «Jimmy Kimmel is Back!» scored big, drawing 20 million views in 24 hours.

Donald Trump erupted on Truth Social after Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night TV, unleashing a furious tirade against both the comedian and ABC. He accused the network of making a «big mistake», mocked Kimmel as talentless, and branded his show «Democrat garbage.»

Trump went further by raising the threat of legal action, boasting of a past $16 million settlement with ABC and hinting that another lawsuit could be «even more lucrative.» His outburst, filled with anger and intimidation, blurred the line between presidential power and media independence in an unprecedented way.

Jimmy Kimmel used his second night back on the air to hit back at the president’s attacks. Far from being intimidated, Kimmel reminded Trump, who had told him to «rot in his bad ratings», that the president’s own poll numbers weren’t much better, joking that he was welcome to join the «bad ratings club.»

Responding to Trump’s Truth Social post that read, «I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,» Kimmel fired back: «You can’t believe they gave me my job back? I can’t believe we gave you your job back!»