Jimmy Kimmel kicked off his week of shows in Brooklyn by once again butting heads with the Trump administration. This time, the late-night host went after Vice President JD Vance and compared ratings between Jimmy Kimmel Live! and who's in the White House.
Vance recently tried to distance the Trump administration and the FCC from any role in ABC’s suspension of Kimmel, despite critics claiming the network and broadcast companies attempted to appease the White House. The vice president went further, suggesting the real reason for Kimmel’s absence would be that he’s not very funny and his ratings aren’t good.
On Monday night, Kimmel used his monologue to deliver a sharp rebuttal. “My ratings aren’t very good? Last time I checked, your ratings are somewhere between a hair in your salad and chlamydia,” the host joked. He then piled on, calling Vance's version of events "bulls***."
Kimmel then got a little personal in his attack on the VP: “In three and a half years, I’m not the one who’s going to be doing mascara tutorials on YouTube. How do we wind up with a president and a vice president who wear more makeup than Kylie Jenner and Lady Gaga combined?”
The clash comes just weeks after Kimmel’s return from suspension, which has become a flashpoint in the ongoing feud between Trump world and late-night television. While it’s true Kimmel’s audience dipped following his first show back, his viewership remains ahead of where Jimmy Kimmel Live! was averaging in the second quarter of the year. The uptick suggests that despite the vice president’s jab, curiosity and support for Kimmel’s comeback are still translating into ratings. Kimmel's monologues continue to do massive numbers on YouTube as fans find different ways to hear from the comedian.
Kimmel’s response shows no signs of him softening his approach toward the administration despite the recent suspension. If anything, it signals he intends to keep his feud with Trump and Vance front and center as long as the politicians keep saying Kimmel's name. Whether that becomes the right recipe for sustained ratings remains to be seen.
Audiences may keep tuning in for the fight, or simply out of curiosity about how far Kimmel will push back against the White House. There’s also the added tension of uncertainty; fans don’t know if each show could be his last, given the ongoing friction with ABC and the type of political pressure that cost Stephen Colbert The Late Show.