Jimmy Kimmel is more popular than Donald Trump, a new poll has found, following a public showdown between the two men that resulted in the talk show host being briefly taken off-air.
The survey, conducted by YouGov, asked respondents if they held favorable opinions of both men.
When asked about Kimmel, 44 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the comedian, while 41 percent said they did not. Fifteen percent said they were undecided, giving Kimmel a net favorability of +3.
When asked about Trump, 41 percent had favorable views in contrast to 54 percent who said they did not and 5 percent were undecided, giving the president a -13 net favorability.
The results gave Kimmel a 16-point lead in favorability, according to the YouGov poll.
Trump was delighted last month after ABC announced that Kimmel’s show had been taken off air “indefinitely,” due to comments he made about the assassination of MAGA commentator Charlie Kirk, accusing Republicans of using the death to score political points.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr, whom the president appointed, called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and also suggested ABC’s license could be at risk over it.
The YouGov poll also asked respondents if they believed that the comments were enough to warrant a suspension, with more than half (55 percent) saying no, and 30 percent saying yes.
Shortly after, however, it was announced that Kimmel would be returning, after the show’s parent company Disney said it had “thoughtful conversations” with Kimmel over the comments, which it described as “ill-timed.”
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” Trump fumed on Truth Social following the announcement. “The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there.”
Kimmel’s return to the air was watched by 6.3 million viewers — more than tripling the late-night show’s normal TV viewership. His comeback monologue also went viral, accumulating more than 14 million views on YouTube and 5.7 million views on Instagram the day after it was broadcast.
In the monologue, Kimmel was choked up and visibly emotional as he explained his intentions in last week’s episode.
“I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human, and that is you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
The comedian went on to tell his audience he had sent love to Kirk’s family and asked for compassion.
