Donald Trump envisions himself as one of the great business minds of our age, so it stands to reason that people are shocked that he’s missing the obvious, which is that every time he trashes Jimmy Kimmel, he’s giving him (and his corporate overlords) free publicity. It’s a badge of honor in many circles to be on Trump’s shit list. Here’s what Trump told a Newsmax host recently.
I haven’t heard him apologize, but he’s a low life. Whether he apologized or not, he’s a low life. He always has been. He shouldn’t be on television. Uh, I don’t know how a guy can be on television where the network gets free airwaves from the United States government and spend 100% of his time knocking Republicans and conservatives and Trump, uh, 100% of his time. It doesn’t, it’s not supposed to work that way, you know, equal time, provisions, et cetera, et cetera. Not supposed to work that way. Uh, but he’s, he’s not a funny guy. He’s got no ratings. And I don’t understand how, uh, he can be on air.
I think ABC is putting themselves in great jeopardy, actually. You know, they’ve already paid me $16 million. George Slopadopolos said things that were untrue and, uh, they had to pay me $16 million. So this is, uh, this is very serious what, what’s going on there.
There’s no such thing as bad publicity, goes the Hollywood adage. Kimmel is supposed to retire in the next year, so this is likely all a moot point. Trump is acting against his own interests by elevating Kimmel as the face of The Resistance. Meanwhile, ABC, Disney, and probably Kimmel himself love all the attention.
