Jimmy Kimmel on Trump's Outrage Over His Return, Why He Attacks President Relentlessly: 'I Don't Like Bullies'

Kimmel was back on Wednesday for a full breakdown of Trump's post, which tore into him and ABC, going so far as to threaten lawsuits about his return. "You know, a lot of people watched our show last night," Kimmel opened Wednesday's, which was more than a bit understated.

Despite being pre-empted in nearly 30 percent of the country due to affiliate owners Nexstar and Sinclair refusing to air his show after the initial suspension -- that they had a role in instigating -- Kimmel's return monologue averaged 6.26 million dollars, according to Nielsen numbers reported by People.

That makes his monologue among the highest-rated Jimmy Kimmel Live! moments of all time, coming in three times higher than his average. His response drew even bigger numbers on YouTube, with the outlet saying it hit 15.9 million views in less than 24 hours and more than 26 million views across YouTube and all social media platforms.

Kimmel quipped Wednesday that he got so many comments and texts and calls from family and friends, "it made me realize how many of my friends are never watching the show at any other time. Tomorrow I'll hear from no one."

He continued by noting that he did get feedback from "one very special friend," before going into the president's scathing response filled with unveiled legal threats, and untruths, according to Kimmel.

"The Mad Red Hatter wrote, 'I can't believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.' You can't believe they gave me my job back, I can't believe we gave you your job back," Kimmel said. "We're even."

He continued reading from Trump's statement, "The White House was told by ABC that his show was cancelled!" To this, Kimmel just interjected, "No they weren't." He continued reading, "Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his "talent" was never there."

"That I can't argue with," Kimmel said as an audience member shouted, "We're right here, Jimmy," referring to the audience comment.

"Shut the f--k up!" Kimmel shouted, pointing at the audience member. "The freedom of speech is only for me. You do not interrupt the president!"

He then moved into the threats portion of Trump's post, reading, "Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who's not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE."

Kimmel then reread the phrase, "'Who puts the network in jeopardy.' You hear that? There's the threat again. This time, straight from FCC biscuit's mouth."

Trump's statement continued, as Kimmel read, "I think we're gonna test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers!"

The late-night host then marveled, "Only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn't threatening ABC by threatening ABC," before going on to say that he feels sorry for Trump's fixers who "try to clean up the messes" he makes, referencing all the claims from the White House that there was no coercion on ABC or its affiliates, with J.D. Vance going so far as to say FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's comments about doing this "the easy way or the hard way" was a joke.

"They go to all these lengths to say, 'Oh, it wasn't coercion, the president was just musing,'" Kimmel said, "and then the second Trump is alone he sits on the toilet, he gets his grubby little thumbs on his phone and he immediately blows their excuses to smithereens."

After sharing that he and ABC felt confident about their chances against Trump in court -- thanks to "a surprise ace up our sleeve, Mr. Judge Steve Harvey: Survey says, you lose!" -- Kimmel then went on to address all those people who still want him off the air and think he spends way too much time bashing the president.

As it turns out, Kimmel has his reasons for targeting Donald Trump so ruthlessly and relentlessly, which he happily laid out for his fans and his critics. He explained "for those who think I go too hard on Donald Trump ... I talk about Trump more than anything because he's a bully. I don't like bullies. I played the clarinet in high school."

Kimmel went on to describe Trump as "an old-fashioned '80s movie-style bully, taking your lunch money. And if you give it to him once, he'll take it again. Two things he loves, lunch and money. He will take that peanut butter and jelly sandwich your mom cut in half like a triangle for you, he will gobble it up in front of your face, and then he'll eat your little Zip-loc bag of Oreos, too."

But Kimmel wasn't done yet: "And he'll take the note your mother put in your lunchbox and he'll read it aloud to everyone, 'Oh, look, Mommy wuvs her widdle boy,' And then he'll smile with a bunch of cookies in his teeth and he'll grab you by your nipples and he'll twist 'em until you have two holes in your LaTigra shirt because your parents couldn't afford an Izod and he'll stuff you in a locker and he'll stomp on your Trapper Keeper and slam the door."

"That is Donald Trump, okay?" he asserted. "He does it to everyone. He did it to the UN yesterday."

He continued, "Rooting for this bully, I don't care what side you're on, it's like rooting for Biff from Back to the Future." At this point, Kimmel pointed out to his audience that the classic movie villain was actually modeled after Donald Trump, "and this is who people are cheering for?"

In an interview with The Daily Beast back in 2015, screenwriter Bob Gale did, in fact, confirm that the adult version of Biff Tannen from Back to the Future Part II was based on Donald Trump. "We thought about it when we made the movie! Are you kidding" he told the outlet.

"You watch Part II again and there’s a scene where Marty confronts Biff in his office and there’s a huge portrait of Biff on the wall behind Biff, and there’s one moment where Biff kind of stands up and he takes exactly the same pose as the portrait?" Gale said, referring to a classic portrait of Donald Trump.

He went on, "In the movie, Biff uses the profits from his 27-story casino to help shake up the Republican Party, before eventually assuming political power himself, helping transform Hill Valley, California, into a lawless, dystopian wasteland, where hooliganism reigns, dissent is quashed, and wherein Biff encourages every citizen to call him 'America's greatest living folk hero.' Yeah, that's what we were thinking about."

Gale later emphasized in a new interview with The Guardian in 2025 that the Biff from the first film was just a classic bully archetype with no specific inspiration, but he stood by his claims about the second film. "When Biff owns a casino, there was a Trump influence in that, absolutely. Trump had to put his name on all of his hotels and his casinos and that’s what Biff does, too."

"But when people say, oh, Biff was based on Donald Trump, well, no, that wasn’t the inspiration for the character," he clarified. "Everybody has a bully in their life and that’s who Biff was. There’s nothing that resembles Donald Trump in Biff in Part I."

Regardless of his clarification, Kimmel still sees the parallels with how Trump behaves and how Biff behaved in the Back to the Future trilogy.

"I don't know about you," he said, "I'm with Marty McFly."