Verdict: FALSE.

The claim comes from Donald Trump. Trump posted on Truth Social claiming “Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings.” But the data tells a different story entirely.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ended 2025 as the only major 11:35 PM show to grow in both total viewers and the Adults 18-49 demo. That alone makes the “bad ratings” claim hard to defend.

Moreover, in Q4 2025, Kimmel jumped 29% in total viewers quarter-over-quarter. He also moved into first place in the key Adults 18-49 demographic – ahead of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which declined 5% in the same period.

Then came the September 2025 suspension. ABC briefly pulled Kimmel off air after controversial on-air comments. Trump declared victory. Instead, Kimmel’s return drew 6.3 million viewers – the most-watched regularly scheduled episode in the show’s history. That figure represents a 343% jump over the prior season’s average! And it happened while 23% of U.S. households couldn’t even watch, due to Nexstar and Sinclair preemptions.

In 2026, the momentum continues. Jimmy Kimmel Live! ranked No. 1 in late night among Adults 18-49 for three straight weeks in March. Year-over-year, total viewers grew 22% and the demo surged 45%. Furthermore, the show’s YouTube channel topped 281 million views in 2026, with nightly monologues averaging 4.4 million views each.

In short: Kimmel leads late night in the key demo. His audience grows year after year. The “bad ratings” narrative is politically driven – and factually wrong.