Donald Trump wasn’t too pleased with Jimmy Kimmel’s 2024 Oscar-hosting gig.
The late-night talk show host, 56, made a joke about the former president, 77, at the awards ceremony on March 10.
Trump appeared on Fox News’ “Media Buzz” on Sunday, where he slammed Kimmel’s quips.
“Jimmy Kimmel is — every night he hits me, I guess. His ratings are terrible,” the septuagenarian politician scoffed. “I hear he hits me all the time, so I figured I’d hit him because I thought he was a lousy host.”
During Hollywood’s biggest night, the comedian graced the stage and read a Truth Social post from Trump that was about the evening.
Trump’s post read: “Has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars?”
The funnyman continued to read the words: “His opening was that of a less-than-average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be.”
The message scored over 3,000 ReTruths and over 16,600 likes on the platform.
Kimmel joked from the stage at LA’s Dolby Theatre: “Thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching. I’m surprised you’re still up. Isn’t it past your jail time?”
Oscar producers discouraged Kimmel from showcasing Trump’s social media review at the event, but he did so regardless.
After the show, Kimmel told Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos: “They’re like, ‘You’ve got a little bit of time’ and I was like, ‘I’m reading the Trump tweet.’ And they’re like, ‘No, no, don’t read that.’ [I said,] ‘Yes, I am.’”
During his chat with Fox, Trump spoke out about Kimmel’s claim that he was advised against presenting the Truth Social tweet during the broadcast.
“Now the big story is that they all begged him not to do it … ‘Don’t do it,’ ” the beleaguered businessman divulged. “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].”
He added: “This guy’s even dumber than I thought.”
“The thing went viral,” Trump concluded. “It’s been all over the world now, and all he had to do is keep his mouth shut.”
Kimmel then fired back at Trump for his criticism.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Donald Trump has said I’m not talented so many times Eric [Trump] is starting to get jealous,” he said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Monday.
“But what he doesn’t realize is that I love this,” the late-night host went on. “I love that this bothered him so much. I love that Fox picked a news guy nobody knows to interview him. And I especially love when he tries to spin the fact that everyone was laughing at him into a positive. By the way, you forget why it went viral all over the world.”
