Critics Choice Awards: Jimmy Kimmel thanks Donald Trump for all the ‘ridiculous things' he does every day in acceptance speech

The Critics Choice Awards honoured popular host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel with he best talk show award. In his acceptance speech, Kimmel expressed his gratitude to everyone — writers, celebrities, union members — who stood by him and had his back when his show was pulled off the air recently following his monologue about activist Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer. Kimmel said then that the “MAGA gang” was “desperately  trying” to characterise the suspect “as anything other than one of them.” Kimmel also accused the Trump supporters of attempting to score political points from the assassination.

“Thanks to all the writers and actors and producers and union members, many of you who are in this room, who supported us, who really stepped forward for us and reminded us that we do not take free speech for granted in this city or in this country. Your actions were important, and we appreciate them,” said Kimmel.

He followed it up with a sarcastic statement, "thanking" Trump. “And most of all, I want to thank our president, Donald Jennifer Trump, without whom, we would be going home empty-handed tonight. So thank you, Mr President, for all the many ridiculous things you do each and every day. It’s been a banner couple of weeks, and we can’t wait to get back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them. Thank you, everyone.”

The host of the late-night show returned to ABC in September after a week-long suspension to a rousing welcome, resulting in the show’s highest ratings in a decade.

According to Disney-owned ABC, nearly 6.3 million people tuned in to the broadcast on television, compared to the regular 1.4 to 1.8 million viewers. This is in addition to the viewership from streaming services, which reaches around 15 million people. ABC says more than 26 million people watched Kimmel's return on social media, including YouTube.

This is despite many ABC stations in Washington, Seattle, Nashville, and St. Louis deciding not to air the show after Nexstar and Sinclair corporations refused to bring Kimmel back.

On his emotional comeback, Kimmel addressed the controversy, stating it was not his “intention to make light of the murder of a young man.” Taking a dig at Trump, Kimmel said, “Our leader celebrates people losing their livelihoods because he can't take a joke." He choked back tears to add, “This show is not important. What’s important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

Last month, Disney announced that it had decided to extend Kimmel's deal for another year. He will continue to host his late-night show during this period.