This week’s Late Night Show has created a frenzy amongst internet users. Jimmy Kimmel has kicked off the week with a satirical monologue that has clearly created unrest at Mar-a-Lago. The latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that aired on Monday was just like any other Kimmel episode, but social media thinks it was ‘just better.’ The comedian delivered what he called “a message that’s likely to get under the president’s skin”. All of this came down to just one thing: the polls.
Kimmel started his show by cheering back at his audience and stating, “I am more popular than the president of the United States.” What’s interesting is that the claim wasn’t just comedic bravery but was, in fact, backed by data. A new poll from The Economist and YouGov found that 44% of Americans think favorably of Kimmel, while their likeness for Donald Trump is just 41%.
According to YouGov polling, Kimmel’s net favorability rating is 16 points higher than the President’s. https://t.co/WFY0GOC6WW
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) October 6, 2025
As per the survey, 41% of the respondents disapprove of Kimmel, but Trump faces a higher disapproval of 54%. With the numbers being made public, Kimmel proudly claimed, “I lead Trump by 16 points. I’m at plus three, he’s at minus 13.”
Kimmel, being Kimmel, the comedian, could not resist and decided to have a little more fun. Jimmy is known for being self-deprecating and skillfully uses satire to his best. He added, “Considering the fact that I’m not a convicted felon, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, or someone who’s paid off a porn star, I feel like my rating should be higher—maybe even much higher!”
He definitely did not stop at this and said, “At this point, finding a toenail in your salad has a seven-point lead over Donald Trump.” Kimmel’s jokes most often than not land perfectly when it’s about the President. It comes as no surprise that the two have a history of exchanging nasty jabs. During Trump’s first term, the President has repeatedly tried to censor Jimmy and his late-night monologues. Recently, Trump seemed happy when Kimmel was banned from ABC for a brief period of time.
Now that Kimmel brings his perfect weapon, the new poll numbers to his defense, he knows who might be watching him keenly. “I hope he doesn’t see this,” he said mockingly. “You know I don’t like to upset him, but I think he might be upset.”
Seems like Jimmy knows the President way too much, cause it didn’t take long for Trump to respond back. A White House spokesperson responded by saying, “77 million Americans voted for Trump in last year’s election” and took a jab at Kimmel’s show, claiming “Jimmy Kimmel prays every night to garner a fraction of that support to keep his show on air after ratings dropped 64 percent last week.” Trump ended his statement by stating, “sad.”
Kimmel is not someone who takes defeat easily, and he seems to be enjoying the whole scenario. He laughed at the statement during his now popular monologue and said, “It would make a nice T-shirt with Trump’s face on it, wouldn’t it?” Kimmel, in his signature style, added yet another punchline and quipped, “You know what else is sad? That the president of the United States has a lower approval rating than Diddy, and diarrhea.”
It does not matter if Trump watched Kimmel’s monologue or not; what matters is that his speech did what he does best. It was a perfect blend of data, humor, and a sting of political drama. It reminds the public that in the war of comedy and politics, there are times a punchline lands harder than the polls themselves.
