"My rating should be higher": Jimmy Kimmel complains after being "more popular" than Donald Trump

Jimmy Kimmel told viewers his “rating should be higher” after citing a fresh YouGov survey that showed him edging out President Donald Trump in popularity. During the October 6, 2025 monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy Kimmel said,

“According to a new poll from YouGov, which is a serious polling site — or they were before this — I am more popular than the President of the United States.”

He then joked,

 

“I feel like my rating should be higher, maybe.”

The YouGov report lists Jimmy Kimmel at 44 per cent favorable and 41 per cent unfavorable, compared with Donald Trump at 41 per cent favorable and 54 per cent unfavorable, a 16-point net gap in Jimmy Kimmel’s favor. The bit also followed headlines about his suspension and return to Jimmy Kimmel Live, which set the stage for this ratings-themed punchline.

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What exactly did Jimmy Kimmel say, and where did he say it?

Jimmy Kimmel made the remarks in his opening monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday, October 6, 2025. On air, Jimmy Kimmel read the YouGov numbers, then told viewers,

“I am more popular than the President of the United States.”

And closed the segment with,

“At this point, finding a toenail in your salad has a seven point lead over Donald Trump.”

He also quipped,

“I feel like my rating should be higher, maybe.”

After listing the poll’s toplines. LiveNOW from FOX likewise summarized the on-air lines and the poll split, including the “toenail in your salad” comparison, with the same YouGov figures and the monologue date for context.

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The poll behind the joke and what the YouGov numbers actually show

The Economist and YouGov fielded the survey from September 26 to 29, 2025, among 1,656 U.S. adult citizens. In those tables, Jimmy Kimmel is listed at 44 per cent favorable and 41 per cent unfavorable, while Donald Trump registers 41 per cent favorable and 54 per cent unfavorable, which is a 16-point net advantage for Jimmy Kimmel. For clarity, TV ratings measure viewership while favorability is a public opinion metric that tracks whether respondents view a person positively or negatively.

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Why the “ratings” bit now, and how the feud context shaped it

The joke landed after a turbulent stretch for Jimmy Kimmel Live. ABC pulled the show off the air in mid-September following backlash over remarks related to the killing of activist Charlie Kirk, then reinstated Jimmy Kimmel six days later. In a September 23 return monologue, Jimmy Kimmel defended political satire and said his earlier comments were misconstrued. Reuters’ coverage of the suspension and return places the timeline and the on-air framing, including pushback by affiliates and by the administration. As per a Reuters report dated Sept 21, 2025, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson stated,

“Jimmy Kimmel’s terrible product isn’t a free speech problem, it’s a talent problem.”

It's a quote that set up Jimmy Kimmel’s renewed focus on so-called ratings jabs. Before Jimmy Kimmel’s September 23 return broadcast. Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he “can’t believe” ABC gave Jimmy Kimmel back his show, hinting at further action, which directly fed the late-night back and forth. For added timeline info, Jimmy Kimmel said at Bloomberg Screentime on October 9 that he would “love” to have Donald Trump on the show.

Throughout this episode and its fallout, Jimmy Kimmel centered the tension between audience measures and public sentiment, turning a YouGov favorability table into a ratings-themed monologue aimed at Donald Trump while grounding the punchlines in the show’s recent history on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

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Stay tuned for more updates.