'It's been a banner couple of weeks, and we can't wait to get back on the air tomorrow night' to talk about it, the host teased.
LOS ANGELES − Jimmy Kimmel made it clear there's one person responsible for his Critics Choice Award for best talk show host: President Donald J. Trump.
Kimmel, 58, just had a little trouble with the president's name during his acceptance speech on behalf of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Sunday, Jan. 4.
"I want to thank our president, Donald Jennifer Trump, without whom we'd be going home empty-handed tonight," said Kimmel. "So thank you, Mr. President, for all the many ridiculous things you do each and every day."
Kimmel has made President Trump and his administration the butt of many jokes, which led to the late-night comic getting pulled off the air by ABC's parent company.
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Disney suspended Kimmel on Sept. 17, following comments he made on the show two days earlier about the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The show returned six days later to increased ratings as Americans tuned in to watch the ongoing cultural firestorm. Kimmel has continued to skewer Trump and will when he returns to the air after his holiday break on Monday, Jan. 5.
"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," Kimmel said.
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Kimmel also slighted Trump by looking at his Critics Choice Award and lamenting that it wasn't the "FIFA World Peace Prize" that the president was granted by the football world governing body.
But the comedian wasn't all jokes, giving a full-throated call for free speech.
"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 with us and reminded us that we do not take free speech for granted in this city or in this country,” Kimmel said. “Your actions were important, and we appreciate them."
