Last Monday, Jimmy Kimmel took the stage to receive the award for the best talk show at the Critics Choice Awards. Upon receiving the award, the host, who has been in the spotlight of Donald Trump for months, issued a warning: "Thanks to those who have supported us, who have stepped forward, and who have reminded us that we cannot take freedom of speech for granted, neither in this city nor in this country (...) I want to thank our president, Donald J. Trump, without whom we would be going home empty-handed tonight. Thank you, Mr. President, for all the ridiculous things you do daily. It has been a memorable couple of weeks, and we are looking forward to being back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them." And he did.
As promised by Kimmel, his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, returned last night to discuss the detention of Nicolás Maduro, Trump, and everything that has turned the world upside down in a matter of days. And he did it with a brutal speech that has not left anyone indifferent. Using his characteristic irony, Jimmy Kimmel fulfilled his promise on Monday night: he was going to speak, and he was going to do it freely.
Kimmel, who has had several clashes with the US president, including a ban on airing his show last year, compared Donald Trump to Maduro, not hesitating to declare who is "the dictator" or who is "the criminal."
"The president is embroiled in a sex scandal, so he attacks a smaller country to distract us. So here we are, distracted," began Jimmy Kimmel during his show. "The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife were forcibly taken from their home in Caracas and brought to New York," he continued, providing viewers with background on the US operation to overthrow Maduro.
"Trump watched the operation unfold in real-time from the bunker in his basement at Mar-a-Lago. It was called Operation Absolute Resolution, a title that was definitely generated by ChatGPT," joked Kimmel. "Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, especially now that Diddy - referring to rapper Sean Combs - is in prison," he said in a comedic tone.
Kimmel then stated that after months of escalating conflict, Trump decided that the leader of the Venezuelan regime had to go and delivered the final blow: "Yes, he is a criminal and a dictator who has led his country to financial ruin while he and his family lined their pockets, but Maduro is no saint either."
The audience in the studio then erupted into applause for the host. Kimmel, timing it perfectly, paused, making the moment on screen feel eternal, and continued: "So, with Maduro out, the question is who will govern Venezuela. And the answer is this guy." At that moment, a video of Donald Trump's press conference from Tuesday was projected, in which, among other points, he highlighted that the United States would keep part of Venezuela's oil.
"He is going to govern Venezuela. He can't even govern his own country. He has been promising a healthcare plan for 10 years and now he is governing another country, which I bet he couldn't locate on a map. I would bet on that. What is he thinking? Isn't governing the United States enough? If you're looking for a challenge, try a squat," Kimmel concluded.
But Venezuela was not the only topic. Trump's intention to acquire Greenland also gave Kimmel reasons to continue with a speech that has since gone viral. "He says we need it for national security and that the European Union should make it happen because he has always liked that country: it's icy and white like the woman he married. And that's how he feels," the host stated.
It was last September when Jimmy Kimmel experienced firsthand what it means to go against Donald Trump. The ABC network, owned by Disney, suspended the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show for several days, citing the controversy generated by a monologue by the comedian.
In the controversial monologue, Kimmel, who has been hosting the show for 22 years from his Los Angeles studio, criticized the Make America Great Again movement, saying that over the weekend "the MAGA band has been desperately trying to characterize this guy who killed Charlie Kirk as something different from one of them and doing everything possible to gain political points from it."
He then mocked President Trump, a personal friend of the conservative activist who was killed days earlier. He did so by showing a video at the White House where Trump was asked how he personally felt after the attack on Kirk. The president, perhaps because he didn't hear the full question, wanted to change the subject, or for any other reason, responded by talking about the renovations in the White House gardens. That's when Kimmel poked fun: "He's in the fourth stage of grief: construction," he said amid laughter from the audience. "That's not how an adult mourns the death of someone they considered a friend. That's how a four-year-old mourns the death of a fish," he added. After this and with million-dollar agreements at stake, Kimmel was canceled. He returned, and although he toned it down upon his return, he promised that they would not take away his freedom of expression.