Donald Trump isn’t happy with Jimmy Kimmel—and has demanded the late-night host apologize over a comment he made during an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Kimmel doesn’t hold back when it comes to Trump and in recent weeks the 56-year-old has mocked the former president’s “very dumb crime family,” brutally compared him to Hitler and eviscerated his court appearances.
On Thursday night’s episode of his show, Kimmel revealed he’d received a letter from Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the organization that runs Trump’s social media site Truth Social. It requested that the host retract a statement he had made about the platform during the show on Tuesday.
While on air, the comedian said Truth Social had lost $73 million since its launch. However, once he and his team went back and checked TMTG’s filing with the SEC, it turned out that the company had “only” lost $31.6 million.
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“This morning I woke up to a letter from the Trump media and Technology Group demanding that I apologize for and retract a statement I made on the air about his struggling social media platform, Truth Social,” Kimmel said Thursday night.
The letter demanded that ABC “completely retract all versions of the segment” and “publish a mutually agreeable apology… acknowledging that the segment was false and has been retracted… Unless these steps are taken immediately, TMTG will take swift legal action to uphold its rights and reputation.”
The letter also claimed the show had “knowingly or recklessly” misrepresented information concerning Truth Social’s financial situation.
Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, told Newsweek: “Who still watches Jimmy Kimmel? He’s still reeling from doing blackface on TV.”
Newsweek reached out to a representative of Kimmel for comment via email Friday.
Kimmel said during Thursday’s program: “We talk a lot about Donald Trump here at the show in the same way paleontologists talk about apes, right? We’re studying him but it’s easy to forget sometimes that he actually sees this stuff.
“He’s obsessed with himself and with what people say about him and because of that we have somehow found ourselves once again in the wisp-thin crosshairs of our crazy ex-president and his compatriots.”
The late-night host went on to explain that he and his team on the nightly comedy show make every effort to “present accurate information” and have a rigorous fact-checking process.
Kimmel assured viewers that prior to the broadcast of Tuesday’s episode, several credible sources were reporting Truth Social had lost $73 million, which eventually turned out to be incorrect.
“In other words [and] in fairness, Truth Social isn’t a colossal failure, it’s only an abysmal failure,” Kimmel said. “And I would like to do the right thing and congratulate our balloon animal former president and his company on only losing $31.6 million. For you that’s pretty good, that’s one of your best performances yet.”
The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Kimmel, as Trump has been preoccupied with a number of ongoing legal issues. These include a $250 million civil bank fraud trial in New York and 91 felony charges in separate cases.
“I have to say, demanding a retraction for reporting the value of his company incorrectly is pretty darn hilarious considering the fact he is on trial right now for reporting the value of his company incorrectly,” Kimmel said. “Maybe he should sue himself.
“But in all fairness, TMTG demanded an apology, so from the bottom of my heart, I want to say to Donald Trump and everyone at TMTG, I’m deeply sorry you’re so bad at running companies, I guess, but doesn’t this guy have bigger things to worry about?”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.