President Trump took another jab at Jimmy Kimmel, this time comparing his hosting skills to the latter.
At an event held the day before Sunday night’s Kennedy Center Honors, which Trump himself is hosting, the president made a prediction regarding the show itself, which is being recorded to air Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+.
“I believe — and I’m gonna make a prediction — this will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done, and they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there’s nothing like what’s gonna happen tomorrow night,” he said.
Trump went on to note that he’s the first president to ever serve as host of the ceremony but made another prediction that the media would give him less-than-positive reviews for his performance as host.
“We never had a president hosting the awards before. This is a first,” he said, adding sarcastically: “I’m sure they’ll give me great reviews, right? You know, they’ll say, ‘He was horrible. He was terrible. It was a horrible situation.’ No, we’ll do fine. I’ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people, if I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.”
While Kimmel has never served as host of the Kennedy Center Honors, he did appear onstage at the 2012 edition of the event as part of a tribute to David Letterman. Kimmel has, however, previously hosted the Academy Awards and the Emmys in addition to his own long-running late-night talk show.
Trump went on to make another prediction about Sunday night’s Kennedy Center Honors, saying: “I want to just thank you all because this is a special night, and I think you’re gonna see that at the end of this evening and by the end of these two days, you’re gonna say this is one of the most special days in your life, and I think a few of you have already told me it already was.”
Trump has criticized Kimmel many times in the past, including calling for his show to be canceled. On Wednesday, at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment event presented by Lifetime, Jimmy Kimmel Live! executive producer (and Kimmel’s wife) Molly McNearney spoke about Trump’s efforts to get the show canceled and called for Hollywood to continue fighting for free speech.
“We got knocked down, and with all of you, you helped us back up,” she said in her keynote address. “I cannot thank you enough. Keep doing it. Please keep fighting for what you believe. Say what you want to say and don’t sugarcoat it because it’s easier, because somebody might get mad. Make people mad! Every one of our freedoms comes back to speech. It is the foundation of everything that is good about this country. Don’t give in and don’t give up.”
The honorees at Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors are Rocky star and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone; disco-era singer Gloria Gaynor; the rock band Kiss; Michael Crawford, the British star of Phantom of the Opera; and country crooner and songwriter George Strait.
