‘He looks like hell’: Trump bashes legendary comedian after stinging rebuke
President Donald Trump uncorked an attack on David Letterman a day after the legendary late-night comedian delivered blistering criticism of Jimmy Kimmel's abrupt suspension from ABC.
When asked Thursday at The Atlantic Festival 2025 his thoughts on Kimmel being yanked off the air, Letterman replied, “This is misery."
“I feel bad about this,” he said. “We see where this is all going, correct? It’s managed media. And it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. And you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works."
Letterman warned comedians won't be the only ones targeted by the Trump administration.
“In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,” he said.
He then scolded Trump some more, and called it a "premeditated" ouster.
“The institution of the president of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show.”
Kimmel’s show was suspended indefinitely over his remarks after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel’s monologue accused MAGA supporters of exploiting Kirk’s death for political gain and mocked how Trump publicly grieved the loss.
In classic Trump fashion, the president took to his Truth Social platform to attack Letterman.
"Whatever happened to the very highly overrated David Letterman, whose ratings were never very good, either. He looks like hell, but at least he knew when to quit. LOSER!!!"
