Late-night star Jimmy Kimmel says that his criticism of Donald Trump is to blame on his massive decline in fans.
According to Kimmel, half of his fans left him after a constant barrage of anti-Trump jokes filled Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“I have lost half of my fans – maybe more than that,” said Kimmel in an appearance on the Naked Lunch podcast.
“Ten years ago among Republicans, I was the most popular talk show host,” Kimmel said, pointing to research to back up his claim.
Apparently, ABC producers and other hosts on the network warned Kimmel about his overuse of anti-Trump jokes and told him that his fan base would shrink if he kept attacking his line of rhetoric.
“I just said, ‘if that’s what you want to do, I understand and I don’t begrudge you for it, but I’m not going to do that,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel said that he was unwilling to be a neutral host and comedian, even though he knew that would be better for ratings.
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“If you want somebody else to host the show, then that’s fine. That’s okay with me. I’m just not going to do it like that,” explained the comedian.
“I couldn’t live with myself [otherwise]” he said.
Kimmel, of course, feels like a hero for sacrificing viewership numbers to lash out against the Republican Party and specifically at Donald Trump.
Kimmel said that “there’s a sacrifice you make when it comes to your audience and you could do pretty well if you stayed down the middle.”
Kimmel is simply too strong in his anti-Trump feelings to toe that line.
Over the last few years, Kimmel’s show has shot downward in ratings for a few years now, just like other late-night shows.
“I want to be on the air when Donald Trump goes to jail,” the out-of-touch Kimmel continued. “I still believe, even after living through the O.J. trial. That justice triumphs in America and I know there are a billion different examples to the contrary. [But] how can you commit this many crimes and be this unethical and be this terrible and get away with it?”
That is a wowing accusation from Kimmel, who references O.J. Simpson to compare to Donald Trump.
Kimmel said in 2019 that he feels that this is a moral obligation for him, to speak out against Donald Trump.
“You watch the news all day, you see what’s going on, how do you walk on stage and ignore it? It just doesn’t work anymore,” said Kimmel. “I wish I could. It’s hard for me to talk about serious subjects. It takes a lot out of me. I do want to be funny. That’s fun. It’s not fun doing anything like that.”
By: Goose