There’s no love lost between Donald Trump and Jimmy Kimmel. On Sunday, the former president made a guest appearance on Fox News’ Media Buzz, where he ripped into Kimmel’s recent Oscar-hosting gig. “Now look, look, Jimmy Kimmel is—every night he hits me, I guess. His ratings are terrible,” Trump said. “I hear he hits me all the time, so I figured I’d hit him because I thought he was a lousy host.”

Trump may be particularly sensitive about Kimmel’s Oscar hosting because he was the butt of one of the night’s most well-received jokes. Before Al Pacino fumbled his way through the best-picture announcement, Kimmel took the stage and read Trump’s “review” of the 96th Academy Awards from Truth Social. “Has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars?” said Kimmel, reading Trump’s post to the audience. “His opening was that of a less-than-average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be.”

But it was Kimmel who got the last laugh: “I’m surprised you’re still up. Isn’t it past your jail time?” Kimmel quipped after reading the former president’s “review,” to thunderous applause from the room.

According to Kimmel, he was told not to read Trump’s social media post at the ceremony, but he did it anyway. “They’re like, ‘You’ve got a little bit of time’ and I was like, ‘I’m reading the Trump tweet,’” he told Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos in an interview that aired on Live With Kelly and Mark after the Oscars. “And they’re like, ‘No, no, don’t read that.’ [I was like,] ‘Yes, I am.’” 

On Media Buzz, Trump addressed Kimmel’s claim that he was discouraged from reading Trump’s post, and went so far as to try and explain Kimmel’s rationale for doing it anyway. “Now the big story is that they all begged him not to do it…‘don’t do it,’” said Trump. “He probably—stupidly, you know, he had to act in a short period of time, like minutes, right? He had minutes because he’s on air. He sees this thing and he wants to go out there and he wants to, I guess, confront me and so…he ends up reading my Truth [Social post].”

Trump couldn’t stop himself from hurling another insult Kimmel’s way. “I said, ‘This guy’s even dumber than I thought,’” said Trump. “The thing went viral. It’s been all over the world now, and all he had to do is keep his mouth shut.” While Trump may not have been a fan, the rest of the world seemed to enjoy this year’s Oscars. Per Nielsen ratings, the 2024 ceremony pulled in 19.5 million viewers, its largest viewership in four years. Not bad for a “lousy host.”