In a fiery response, President Donald Trump lashed out at late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, branding him a “bum” and questioning why his show is still airing. This came after Kimmel’s recent pointed jokes concerning the much-anticipated release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Over the past few days, Kimmel has been relentless with his jabs at Trump, particularly focusing on the Epstein saga. In his monologue on Wednesday night, the host of ABC’s late-night show humorously suggested that Trump should brace himself for the upcoming release of all Justice Department records concerning Epstein, the infamous convicted sex offender.
“We are carefully following the path of Hurricane Epstein right now. It is a category 5, it’s expected to make landfall sometime very soon,” Kimmel quipped, drawing a parallel between the impending document release and a hurricane.
He further remarked, “We are now one step closer to answering the question, ‘What did the president know?’ And ‘how old were these women when he knew it?’” These comments underscore the potential implications and revelations expected from the full disclosure of Epstein’s files.
Interestingly, earlier that evening, President Trump had signed a piece of legislation that mandates the Department of Justice to release the complete set of Epstein-related documents within 30 days. This move seems to have set the stage for the recent exchange between Trump and Kimmel.
Earlier in the night, Trump signed legislation authorizing the Department of Justice to release the full files within 30 days.
‘Usually when Trump gets a bill, he declares bankruptcy and doesn’t pay it,’ Kimmel joked on Wednesday.
A little over an hour after the monologue, Trump took to Truth Social to blast the late-night host.
President Donald Trump tore into Jimmy Kimmel over the late-night host’s flurry of jokes about the release of the Epstein files this week
Trump slammed the ABC host as a ‘bum’ in a Truth Social post he shared shortly after Kimmel ripped him on air
‘Why does ABC Fake News keep Jimmy Kimmel, a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air? Why do the TV Syndicates put up with it? Also, totally biased coverage. Get the bum off the air!!!’ Trump wrote.
Kimmel has faced threats of suspension from the administration before, including Disney pulling his show for several days in September after the host directed controversial comments at MAGA in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Before the suspension was announced, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license if Kimmel was not held accountable.
In the weeks since Kimmel’s return to the air, he has continued to target Trump.
On Tuesday, Kimmel took at aim at the president for yelling ‘Quiet, piggy’ at a female reporter aboard Air Force One.
‘He said “Quiet, piggy” to a reporter and it barely made the news. If a man spoke like that to a female co-worker in a workplace harassment training video, you’d go, “Ah, that’s over the top. Nobody would do that,”‘ the host said.
‘That was Friday,’ he added. ‘Today, Trump did what most people would do when faced with a scandal that could potentially end his presidency. He welcomed an evil prince to the White House.’
Kimmel had been referring to the visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Kimmel said that Trump should prepare for the worst ahead of the release of all of the Justice Department’s documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
On Tuesday, Kimmel took at aim at the president for yelling ‘Quiet, piggy’ at a female reporter aboard Air Force One
‘This is a guy who gave a green light to the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, who’d been critical of bin Salman’s regime,’ Kimmel continued.
‘He was dismembered with a bone saw at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. So naturally, Trump is pulling out all the stops for his trillionaire friend, who also happens to be doing business with Don Jr. and Eric.’
Earlier in the day, Trump snapped at ABC News White House Correspondent Mary Bruce after being asked about Khashoggi‘s murder.
Kimmel showed the clip of the exchange and added: ‘That’s right. How dare you embarrass a man who had a columnist sawed into pieces.’
He also joked that the president ‘loses his mind’ every time he is asked about the Epstein case.
‘If anyone thinks he’s going to release all the Epstein files I’ve got a beautiful East Wing of the White House to sell you,’ Kimmel said.
