Jimmy Kimmel Was Asked How to Save Late Night—His Answer Was “A Different President”
Jimmy Kimmel Was Asked How to Save Late Night—His Answer Was “A Different President”
Tracey Johnson Wed, August 12, 2026 at 7:15 PM UTC
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Jimmy Kimmel turned a question about saving late-night television into a pointed joke about Donald Trump. (Image source: Jimmy Kimmel Live!/YouTube)
Jimmy Kimmel was asked what he thought about the future of late-night television, and his answer had very little to do with television and everything to do with a certain someone.
The Hollywood Reporter asked him what it would take to save the late-night format, when Kimmel offered a blunt prescription.
“A different president would be a good start.”
The joke landed because the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host has had a very rough year, and yet he still remains one of Donald Trump’s most outspoken late-night critics.
It has also brought some highs with Kimmel’s season including Emmy nominations for both Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. But, it also included a brief suspension that left his own show off the air and put his relationship with ABC at risk.
Kimmel’s Year Wasn’t Just About Trump
ABC pulled Kimmel’s show in September after he delivered a monologue about the reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The program returned six days later after viewers and celebrities criticized the move.
Looking back, Kimmel said that it was the controversy, and not the awards, that stayed with him the most.
“No question that what I will remember most is the reaction to our unscheduled vacation [after Kirk], which went so far beyond what I ever could have expected,” he said.
He added that he would never forget the support he received from friends, strangers and even people who “generally make me throw up.”
But the incident also pushed him conflict with Trump into a new era. The president has often criticized the comedian, which Kimmel then turns into material for his show. So when the Hollywood Reporter asked what he would say if he and Trump ended up alone together in an elevator, Kimmel didn’t hesitate.
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“Which button do we push for a Diet Coke?”
Kimmel also discussed how late night television is changing now that Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show was cancelled, and how it obviously affects him too.
Trump Is Still Part of Kimmel’s Late-Night Equation
Kimmel was one of Colbert’s show’s biggest supporters during last year’s Emmy campaign, and he even put up a billboard urging voters to support his fellow host.
This time, however, Kimmel was asked whether he planned to do the same after The Late Show received another Emmy nomination this year. But this time he didn’t sound as enthusiastic as he previously did. “We were hoping this time they’d get one for us,” he said.
The two shows are facing heavy competition in the same Outstanding Variety Series category, and are going against the likes of The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Saturday Night Live.
For now, Kimmel is away on his annual summer break, with guest hosts filling in on Jimmy Kimmel Live! They have still kept the political material as part of the lineup, keeping Trump and the White House in the late-night conversation.
But when Kimmel was asked the simplest question about where late night shows go from here, he didn’t suggest a new host, a new network strategy or a new comedy formula.
He had one answer: “A different president would be a good start.”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
