The president previously celebrated Kimmel’s indefinite hiatus on Truth Social, praising ABC for pulling the show after its host referenced Charlie Kirk
President Donald Trump has spoken out publicly in the wake of the news that ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air.
The network announced its decision to indefinitely pause the show after host Kimmel referenced the recent assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk during a monologue, in which he questioned the president’s reaction to the news.
Amid Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom on Thursday, Sept. 18, Trump, 79, shared his thoughts about Kimmel’s hiatus and characterized it as a firing.
“Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about a great man named Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person, he had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.”
“You can call that free speech or not,” the president continued. “He was fired for lack of talent.”
The remarks that seemingly landed Kimmel in hot water came during the Monday, Sept. 15, episode of his show.
“We hit 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 doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said in the monologue. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
“On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this,” he continued. A clip then cut into Kimmel’s broadcast, showing Trump taking questions from reporters after the shooting, one of whom offered their condolences for the death of the president’s “friend” Kirk.
When asked how he was holding up, Trump replied, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.” Trump continued discussing the ballroom plans, saying the result would “be a beauty.”
The cameras then cut back to Kimmel, who said, “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction.”
“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend,” Kimmel added. “This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay?”
The host then said Trump’s seemingly nonchalant comments “didn’t just happen once,” showing the president on a Sept. 12 appearance on Fox & Friends, where he recalled what he was doing when he got news of Kirk’s death.
“When I heard it, I was in the midst of, you know, building a great — for 150 years they’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House, right? They don’t have a ballroom; they have to use tents on the lawn for President Xi when he comes over. If it rains, it’s a wipeout,” Trump said.
Trump said he was with the architects planning the “incredible” design for the ballroom when someone entered and told him, “‘Charlie Kirk is dead.’ ” The president said he expressed shock over the news.
“And then we installed the most beautiful chandelier,” Kimmel sarcastically chimed in, as the cameras were back on him. “Sconces you wouldn’t believe.”
“There’s something wrong with him, there really is. Who thinks like that?” continued Kimmel, who previously sent condolences to Kirk’s family while firmly denouncing violence. “Why are we building a $200 million ballroom in the White House? Is it possible he’s doing it intentionally so we can be mad about that instead of the Epstein list? By the time he’s out of office, the White House will have slot machines and a water slide.”
A spokesperson for Disney’s ABC confirmed that the late-night talk show was being placed on indefinite hiatus on Wednesday, Sept. 17, after his comments. The decision came in response to a threat from Nexstar Media to preempt airings of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Nexstar said in a statement to PEOPLE that it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”
Nexstar is the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S., owning more than 200 television stations in 116 markets. It recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, a massive deal that will require final approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission.
On Wednesday night, the president — who has been in the U.K. with his wife, Melania Trump, for an official state visit with the royal family at Windsor Castle — praised ABC’s actions on Truth Social.
Trump said in a statement on the social media platform, “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.”
“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible,” he continued, before taking aim at late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.
“That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJ,” he added.