NEWSJimmy Kimmel Uses Donald Trump's Own Insults in Emmy Campaign Ad as He 'Thanks' President for Nomination
Jimmy Kimmel used Donald Trump’s past insults in his Emmy campaign.
Aug. 21 2026, Published 6:29 a.m. ET
Jimmy Kimmel has found an unexpected Emmy campaign surrogate: President Donald Trump.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host posted a “for your consideration” video on Instagram built entirely around Trump’s repeated attacks on him. Instead of show clips or celebrity guests, the montage features the president calling Kimmel “not a talented person,” saying his “ratings are terrible,” labeling him a “whack job” and demanding he be “immediately fired.”
Kimmel captioned the post, “Thank you, Mr President, for your consideration #FYC.”
Donald Trump Becomes the Ad
Jimmy Kimmel turned Donald Trump’s criticism into a promotional Emmy video.
The video arrives ahead of the August 26 Emmy voting deadline and closes by listing the categories in which Jimmy Kimmel Live! is nominated.
The ABC show is up for Outstanding Variety Series, Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series, Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Series, and Outstanding Production Design for a Variety or Reality Series.
Kimmel also received a separate nomination for Outstanding Host for a Game Show for the celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
A Crowded Anti-Trump Field
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Several of Donald Trump’s most visible late-night critics faced off in the Emmy Awards.
This year’s variety race puts several of Trump’s most visible late-night critics in direct competition.
‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ competed in a crowded Outstanding Variety Series race.
The Television Academy combined the talk and scripted variety categories in January, creating an Outstanding Variety Series field that includes Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Saturday Night Live and the now-canceled Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The new format could also produce more than one winner. Instead of limiting the merged category to a single show, the Academy has said any nominee that receives 90 percent “Yes” votes can win.
The Kimmel–Trump Loop
Jimmy Kimmel leaned into his ongoing feud with Donald Trump ahead of the Emmy voting.
Trump has repeatedly targeted Kimmel during his second term. He supported ABC’s brief 2025 suspension of the late-night show and later called for Kimmel to be fired after an April joke about Melania Trump.
Kimmel said that joke, made during an “alternative” White House Correspondents’ Dinner monologue, was meant as a “very light roast joke.”
The ad also lands while Kimmel is away on his summer break. Recent guest hosts have included Tiffany Haddish, Colman Domingo, Ike Barinholtz, Anthony Anderson and Rosie O’Donnell, who opened her August 17 guest-hosting debut with a wave to the camera and a message for Trump: “Hi, I know you’re watching!”
The 78th Emmy Awards air September 14 on NBC and Peacock.
