Jimmy Kimmel Pounces on 'Dummy' RFK Jr.'s Gaffe: 'Now Get Back to Spreading Polio'

Jimmy Kimmel has found his latest sparring partner, and this time, it’s not President Donald Trump, but one of his most high-profile allies.

The late-night host took a jab at Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he took aim at what he called the “collapse of liberal comedy.”

The exchange began when Kennedy criticized Kimmel and the state of late-night TV, writing on X that the industry had reached a “nader,” while reposting a satirical video mocking hosts.

Kimmel didn’t let the mistake slide.

“It’s ‘nadir’ dummy,” he wrote on Instagram. “Now get back to spreading polio.”

The feud arrives at a moment when late-night television is already under scrutiny, especially following the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Trump and his allies have seized on that shift, framing it as evidence of declining relevance for politically driven comedy. Trump himself recently celebrated Colbert’s exit, calling it the “Beginning of the End” for late-night hosts he described as “untalented” and “not funny.”

Kimmel, long a Trump critic, has remained one of the most visible faces of that style of comedy, mixing political commentary with entertainment in a way that continues to draw both applause and backlash.

Critics suggest Kimmel’s latest jab is part of a broader recalibration, widening the comedic lens beyond Trump.

“Jimmy Kimmel has realized that his audience is getting tired of the same old jokes targeting President Trump. So, now he’s letting his Trump Derangement Syndrome spill over to those associated with Trump, like RFK Jr.,” said forensic psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman. “He’s hoping no one will realize that it’s all the same thing.”