Jimmy Kimmel wants his show to still be on the air 'when Donald Trump goes to jail'
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Jimmy Kimmel, who recently extended his late night contract with ABC for three more years, hopes to be on air as long as it takes for Donald Trump to land in jail.
The host discussed his goal for continuing Jimmy Kimmel Live in an upcoming episode of Stitcher's Naked Lunch podcast with hosts Phil Rosenthal and David Wild (out Thursday).
"I like working with the people I work with. I like the people who run the network," Kimmel said, adding, "I want to be on the air when Donald Trump goes to jail. I very much want that."
"What a beautiful sentiment," Rosenthal replied.
"I think I would be heartbroken if I was not," Kimmel said, prompting Rosenthal to ask him what his "gut" says about the former president's penal prospects.
"My gut, first of all, Imma tell you, my gut always tells me the wrong thing, like when it comes to Donald Trump," Kimmel explained. "But I still believe even, even after living through the O.J. trial and whatever, that I still believe that justice triumphs in America. And I know there are a billion different examples to the contrary, but I just, there just seemed to be too many different cases against him."
He continued, "I mean ... how can you commit this many crimes and be this unethical and be this, you know, just this terrible and get away with that? I just, I think the only way he's gonna get away with it is if, you know, he has a heart attack or something. And that's the last we see of him. And I feel like in some ways that's what he's trying to do. He's just trying to draw this out right until he dies."
While Kimmel's been an outspoken critic of Trump's for years, he revealed that ABC once "kind of hinted" that they wanted him to tone down his criticisms.
"I said, 'Listen, I get it. I mean, I don't disagree. I mean, you're right. I have lost half of my fan[base], maybe more than that,'" Kimmel recalled. "Ten years ago among like Republicans, I was the most popular talk show host, you know? I mean, you know, at least according to the research that they did. And I get it, if that's what they wanna do, I just said, 'Listen, if that's, if that's what you wanna do, I understand and I don't begrudge you for it, but I'm not gonna do that. So, you know, if you want somebody else to host the show, then that's fine. That's okay with me. I'm just not gonna do it like that.' And they're like, 'All right.'"
"They knew I was serious," he added. "I couldn't live with myself."
Kimmel's episode of Naked Lunch drops Thursday on all major podcast platforms. Watch an exclusive sneak peek of the convo below:
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