Donald Trump reignited his ongoing feud with Jimmy Kimmel on Saturday night, proclaiming ahead of the Kennedy Center Honors that he is a better host than the late-night comedian.
Speaking from the Oval Office, where the president presented this year’s Kennedy Center honorees with their medals ahead of Sunday’s ceremony, Trump said he would do better than Kimmel, who has hosted the Oscars multiple times. Trump notably decided to host the annual awards, which will air on Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+, himself.
“I believe — and I’m gonna make a prediction — this will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done, and they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there’s nothing like what’s gonna happen tomorrow night,” Trump said.
He continued, “We have never had a president hosting the awards before. This is the first. I’m sure they’ll give me great reviews, right? You know, they’ll say, ‘He was horrible. He was terrible. It was a horrible situation.’ No, we’ll do fine. I’ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people, if I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.”
The Kennedy Center Honors celebrated Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, KISS, and Michael Crawford, who appear to be some of the only performers who agreed to accept the awards from Trump. However, in August, Trump said that he “turned down plenty” of possible honorees. “They were too woke,” he said. “I had a couple of wokesters.”
Although Kimmel has never hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, the event has historically been helmed by a comedian, an actor or a journalist. Stephen Colbert has hosted several times, as have Queen Latifah and David Letterman. When Trump announced that he had decided to play host himself he claimed it was because he would improve the show’s ratings.
“I’ve been asked to host,” he said. “I said, ‘I’m the president of the United States. Are you folks asking me to do that?’ ‘Sir, you’ll get much higher ratings.’ I said, ‘I don’t care. I’m the president of the United States. I won’t do it.’ They said, ‘Please.’ And then [chief of staff] Susie Wiles said, ‘Sir. I would like you to host.’ I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’”
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian/New Zealand music and globally.
During his first administration, Trump broke longtime tradition and didn’t attend the yearly Kennedy Center Honors. The move came after Norman Lear and other honorees said they wouldn’t attend if he was in the house. “As an artist and a human being, I cannot celebrate this incredible honor at a White House that has no interest in supporting the arts and humanities,” Lear told NPR.
In February, Trump announced his plans to gut the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center, along with his intention to boot its chairman, billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein. The president declared he would reinstate himself as head of the revered cultural center.
“I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”
Trump also took aim at the center’s past events. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” said Trump. “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Following the announcement, Ben Folds resigned as artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, a position he had held since 2017.
Although Trump’s stint as host has yet to air, reports from the evening suggest that Trump had trouble restraining himself from criticizing some of the attendees. Speaking about the honorees, Trump noted, “Some of them have had legendary setbacks, setbacks that you have to read in the papers because of their level of fame. But in the words of Rocky Balboa, they showed us that you keep moving forward, just keep moving forward.”
He added (via The Hollywood Reporter), “I know so many of you are persistent. Many of you are miserable, horrible people. You are persistent. You never give up. Sometimes I wish you’d give up, but you don’t.”
Kimmel has yet to respond to Trump’s claim, but a new episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live airs Monday night on ABC.
From Rolling Stone US
