- Jimmy Kimmel holds back tears during first post-election monologue
- Calls the election a “terrible night”
- Kimmel and Trump have a long history of publicly sparring
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel struggled to hold back tears during his first monologue after Donald Trump’s re-election.
“We had a choice between a prosecutor and a criminal and we chose a criminal to be President of the United States,” said the comedian while addressing his studio audience on Wednesday 6 November.
“More than half of this country voted for the criminal who’s planning to pardon himself for his crimes,” he added. Kimmel also highlighted the irony that there have been no accusations of rigging, despite Trump’s claims to the contrary.
Read more: Can Donald Trump run for President in 2028?
“Last time, the Democrats cheated. This time? We chose not to, I guess.”
After running through some of the key events of the last day or so – including President Biden’s first phone call to President-Elect Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’s concession speech – Kimmel returned to election night.
“Let’s be honest, it was a terrible night last night.
“It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrants who make this country go,” said Kimmel before becoming briefly overcome with emotion.
Quickly catching himself, the host continued, adding that the decision could impact things like “our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech.”
Public sparring
The popular host of Jimmy Kimmel Live has been a long-standing critic of President-Elect Trump, with the pair sparring publicly over the years.
The latter has posted about the talk show host multiple times on his social media channel Truth Social. One message was read aloud by Kimmel during his time hosting the Oscars in 2024.
Watch it below:
In early October, Trump reposted the above clip on Truth Social.
“Remember this? What a dope! His wife and agent begged him not to do it,” said the President-Elect. He added that Kimmel suffers from “Trump derangement syndrome.”
Pre-Election monologue
Shortly before the election, Kimmel dedicated an entire monologue to sharing thoughts designed specifically for Republicans and those considering voting for Trump.
Kimmel ended the speech by suggesting his usual viewers send the monologue to a Republican friend or family member. He later poked fun at this during his first post-election live show address.
“Be honest, last week, did you guys send that monologue to a Republican like I asked you to?”
