qq. Jimmy Kimmel Reacts to Poll Saying He Is More Popular Than Donald Trump: ‘I Hope He Doesn’t See This’

NEED TO KNOW

• On Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday, Oct. 6, the host continued his tradition of skewering President Donald Trump following his return from a brief suspension
• Kimmel focused on a newly released poll, which suggested that he was more popular than the current president of the United States
• He also blasted Trump for recent comments about Osama bin Laden and a plan to put his face on a new coin

Jimmy Kimmel and Donald Trump have both weighed in on a newly released poll that compares their popularity as the late-night host continues his on-air slamming of the president.

On the Monday, Oct. 6, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the 57-year-old host addressed a recently released YouGov poll that suggested that he was more popular than the current president, 79.

Saying that it came after “a hell of a couple of weeks,” which included a brief suspension, Kimmel described the new poll as “exciting news” in his opening monologue.

“According to a new poll from YouGov — which is a serious polling site … or they were before this — I am more popular than the president of the United States,” he said to explosive applause.

Kimmel continued, “You remember the guy who keeps saying I have no ratings? Well, that makes two of us. They polled more than 1,000 people, and I lead Trump by 16 points. I’m at plus three; he’s at minus 13.”

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YouGov received responses from 1,656 participants. Of that group, 41% had a favorable opinion of Trump compared to the 54% who were unfavorable. Five percent of responders answered “Don’t know” to the question. In comparison, 44% of 1,654 responders had a favorable response to Kimmel, 41% were unfavorable and 15% answered “Don’t know.”

Kimmel described the findings as “nice,” but added, “Considering the fact that I’m not a convicted felon friend of Jeffrey Epstein and I’ve never paid off a porn star or sent a team of masked goons into a park to pull an old lady away from her grandchildren, I feel like my rating should be higher maybe?”

“At this point, finding a toenail in your salad has a seven-point lead over Donald Trump,” he said.

The host, who recently returned to TV after the suspension supported by Trump, jokingly added, “I really hope he doesn’t see this” in reference to the poll. “I hate to, you know, I don’t like to upset him.”

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“But I think he might be upset because the White House put out a statement this afternoon,” Kimmel said. “This is a real statement: ‘Over 77 million Americans showed up on election day to cast their ballots for President Donald J. Trump, who is delivering on his overwhelming mandate to put America first. Jimmy Kimmel prays every night to garner a fraction of that support to keep his show on air after ratings dropped 64% last week. Sad!’ “

The statement was also shared with Newsweek by White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.

“You know what else is sad?” Kimmel asked, answering, “That the president of the United States has a lower approval rating than Diddy and diarrhea. That’s what’s sad.”

Providing a word of advice, Kimmel revealed how Trump could improve his approval rating since the president “cares very deeply about this sort of thing.”

“If he’s looking to improve his approval numbers, I have an idea — release the Epstein files,” the late-night host said.

“They did a poll on that, too,” Kimmel went on. “A vast majority say they want to see the Epstein files. Seventy-seven percent of Americans want the Epstein files released, but 100% of our American president does not want them released.”

Kimmel’s show was pulled from air for six days after he made controversial statements about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The show returned on Sept. 23, with an average of 6.26 million TV viewers tuning in. The early ratings were three times greater than an average show.

On Sept. 25, Kimmel addressed the “tumultuous week” and his spike in ratings, quipping, “We couldn’t have done it without you, Mr. President. Thank you very much.”

During his Monday monologue, Kimmel continued to skewer the president over other recent comments, such as debunked ones that he made about Osama bin Laden.

While speaking to members of the Navy on Sunday, Oct. 5, Trump said, “And please remember, I wrote about Osama bin Laden exactly one year ago.”

He corrected himself, clarifying, “One year before he blew up the World Trade Center. And I said, ‘You’ve got to watch Osama bin Laden.’ And the fake news would never let me get away with that statement unless it was true.”

“In the book, I wrote — whatever the hell the title, I can’t tell you — but I can tell you there’s a page in there devoted to the fact that I saw somebody named Osama bin Laden, and I didn’t like it, and, ‘You gotta take care of him.’ They didn’t do it; a year later, he blew up the World Trade Center. So, you gotta take a little credit, because nobody else is gonna give it to me,” Trump said.

Kimmel described the comments as Trump “taking credit for a mission that he in no way accomplished,” and made a joke about the president’s recent claims of a Tylenol/autism link.

“Is he putting Tylenol in his McFlurries now?” Kimmel said. “Everyone knew bin Laden was a dangerous terrorist in 2000. Are we to believe he was getting intelligence briefings on the set of his Pizza Hut commercials at that time?”

As the monologue continued, he referenced a new proposal to mint a coin that features Trump’s likeness, which became breaking news amid the government shutdown.

“Only Donald Trump would shut down the government and say, ‘Hey, let’s mint some money with my big fat head on it,’ ” Kimmel lambasted, later describing the idea as “a major choking hazard for Eric [Trump, the president’s son].”