Jimmy Kimmel vs Donald Trump feud timeline explained including 'mocking Melania's accent'
Donald Trump hasn't held back when sharing his joy at ABC's decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel's show from air over comments he made about Charlie Kirk's death.
The host's Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been suspended indefinitely after he suggested Trump followers were using the far-right commentator's death to 'score political points.'
Trump has since hailed the decision as 'great news for America', saying the comedian has 'zero talent', while also taking aim at his ratings.
Unsurprisingly, there's no love lost between Trump and Kimmel, who've never shied away from criticising each other publicly over the years, with the latter even going as far as getting Italian citizenship earlier this year after Trump took office.
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Below is an overview of the continuing feud between the two opposing famous names, so far.
Kimmel criticised Trump in 2015
The late-night show host has been making public jibes at the US president from as far back as 2015, with ABC execs stepping in to warn Kimmel off the Trump jokes over fears of alienating Republican viewers.
However, in November 2022, the comedian told Stitcher's Naked Lunch podcast that he told network bosses he would leave the show if he wasn't allowed to make jokes about Trump. Kimmel continued to make regular jibes, and lost around half of the show's audience.
Trump had been due to appear on the show during his election campaign in 2015, but had to cancel due to a prior obligation, prompting the host to say he was 'delighted' the politician would not be attending.
When the audience booed, he added: "Now he's glad he didn't come, I guess.
"I’m dying to find out what this major political commitment was. Usually, it means he had to go on CNN to call someone an idiot, or something. Why did he cancel? We told him there were cameras here, right? Are Tuesday nights the night he volunteers down at the orphanage?" Kimmel continued.
"Don’t worry. We’re giving everyone in our audience a basketball dipped in cologne – so you can fully experience what it would have been like if he was here."
Trump appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Two months later, Trump actually did appear on the show, where Kimmel presented him a children's book called Winners Aren't Losers.
He read out loud: "Winners aren’t losers, they’re winners – like me!” Kimmel read aloud.
“A loser’s a loser, which one will you be?"
At the time, the pair were able to laugh together, however the host's criticisms really increased once Trump was elected in 2016 and took office in 2017.
Kimmel took personal offence to Trump's bid to get rid of Obamacare, revealing that his son had been born with a rare heart defect, explaining that people without existing health insurance may not receive treatment.
In 2018, Kimmel ruffled feathers by appearing to mock First Lady Melania Trump's accent during the White House Easter Egg Roll coverage.
The impersonation led to a bitter back and forth between him and Fox News host Sean Hannity, who branded Kimmel as 'racist' and an 'a** clown'.
Kimmel eventually apologised after a sexually suggestive joke about Hannity and Trump was said to cause offense to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
'Very dumb crime family'
Several years down the line in 2023, ahead of Trump's $250 million civil fraud case in New York, Kimmel referenced him as being part of a 'very dumb crime family', alongside sons Eric and Donal trump Jr, who were also named in the lawsuit.
"That is basically what these people are, a crime family. A very dumb crime family. The Gambozos, if you will."
While Kimmel has continued to take multiple jibes at Trump in the last couple of years, it was last year when the president first publicly scolded the comedian, while he hosted the Oscars, taking to social media to insult his presenting skills.
Kimmel responded with: "Thank you - I'm surprised you're still watching. Isn't it past your jail time?"
Then, earlier this year, Trump criticised the comedian once again following the cancellation of fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert's show. At the time, Colbert's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert had the highest ratings of any late-night show, but was cancelled by Paramount after he too criticised Trump.
At the time, Trump wrote on social media: "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!"
While Trump is now undoubtedly celebrating the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! there are lots of people who aren't happy, with protests taking to the streets and calls for people to boycott Disney+.
Topics: Donald Trump, Jimmy Kimmel, US News
Emma Rosemurgey