Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel declared victory over President Donald Trump and said tyranny is “booming” in the United States during remarks on Britain’s alternative Christmas message.
British public broadcaster Channel 4 asked Kimmel to deliver the network’s annual high-profile speech designed to offer a humorous alternative to the monarch’s televised holiday address. During his remarks, Kimmel said he knew little of this tradition but used the opportunity to take aim at Trump.
“I do know what’s going on over here, though, and I can tell you that from a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,” Kimmel said. “Tyranny is booming over here.”
ABC suspended Kimmel’s show in September after he made comments about the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Since then, Kimmel has become at the center of the free speech debate.
Kimmel thanked the people whose support led to ABC bringing Kimmel’s show back on the airwaves.
“Our show came back stronger than ever. We won, the president lost, and now I’m back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician on Earth a right and richly deserved bollocking,” Kimmel said.
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The late-night host referred to the president as “King Donny the Eighth” and “the guy who thinks he is our king.”
“Now we’ve got King Donny the Eighth calling for executions. It happens fast. You know, it’s funny, we Americans are very proud of not having a king. It’s kind of why we left,” he said, referring to the American Revolution.
Kimmel said the U.S. is a “mess right now,” citing the press, science, medicine, judicial independence, and the White House as examples.
“Here in the United States right now, we are both figuratively and literally tearing down the structures of our democracy,” he said.
Kimmel apologized that this “mess” is impacting the British public during his address, but urged them not to “give up on us” and “give us about three years,” appearing to reference the 2028 presidential election.
“And we know this is also affecting you, and I just wanted to say sorry,” Kimmel said. “And we want you to know, or at least I want you to know, that we’re not all like [Trump]. We’re not all like that.”
Channel 4’s alternative Christmas message is known for inviting controversial figures to deliver its address in the past, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Edward Snowden.
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In a statement to the New York Times, the broadcaster said Kimmel had “found himself on the front line of America’s battle over free speech.”
Kimmel’s speech was broadcast three hours after King Charles III’s annual holiday address, in which the king celebrated Britain’s “great diversity” and urged “compassion and reconciliation” over division.
