Jimmy Kimmel ripped President Trump’s “take out Los Angeles” comment about Iran and joked he’d report him to the FCC, turning around the calls to pull him off the air after his Melania Trump joke.
Jimmy Kimmel knows what it’s like to have people call the FCC on him. On his Oct. 6 show, he tried it from the other side.
Kimmel opened Jimmy Kimmel Live by going after President Donald Trump for a comment Trump made about Iran at a rally in Nebraska the day before. Then he said he was going to report the president to the FCC.
It was a joke. There’s no sign he filed anything.
What did Trump say about Los Angeles and San Diego?
At an Oct. 5 rally in Nebraska, Trump was talking about the war with Iran and higher fuel prices. He said a nuclear-armed Iran could “take out a city,” according to Mediaite and Forbes.
Then he said: “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”
He called the economic hit from the war “a small price to pay,” Forbes reported. Some people in the crowd cheered.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the remarks “deranged and dangerous,” Forbes reported.
The White House said critics had it wrong. Trump was “clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” Communications Director Steven Cheung said.
At a rally in Texas on Oct. 7, Trump repeated the line and added, “We’re not going to let that happen. We protect our cities,” according to Forbes.
What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Trump?
Kimmel called the comment “truly appalling” and one of the “most indefensible statements” he had ever heard Trump make.
“The hypocrisy is so glaring, you can’t even turn your head toward it,” he said, TheWrap reported.
Kimmel then played old clips of people calling for him to be taken off the air over a joke he made about Melania Trump in April. “I’m going to report him to the FCC!” he said, according to Mediaite.
He also pointed out the double standard he sees. “Now it’s a joke, before it was not a joke,” Kimmel said.
Why is the FCC a sore spot for Jimmy Kimmel?
Kimmel has been in the middle of the FCC’s fight with ABC for more than a year.
In September 2025, ABC briefly pulled his show off the air after FCC Chair Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel’s on-air comments. It came back within a week.
In April, after Kimmel’s joke about Melania Trump, Trump urged ABC to fire him. One day later, the FCC ordered early license reviews for eight ABC-owned TV stations, JD Journal reported.
Disney has called the reviews retaliation. The FCC says they’re tied to an investigation into Disney’s diversity practices.
On the same day as Kimmel’s monologue, Disney’s lawyers were in federal court asking a judge to block those reviews. The judge hasn’t ruled.
Has Jimmy Kimmel joked about the FCC before?
Plenty. The FCC has become a running bit on his show.
On Oct. 1, Kimmel and Robert De Niro mocked Trump and Carr in a sketch, Forbes reported. The Oct. 6 joke just pointed the same idea back at the president.
Is Jimmy Kimmel staying on ABC?
For now, Kimmel is still on the air on weeknights, and he’s still going after Trump.
His contract with ABC runs into 2027, after he signed an extension in December 2025, Deseret News reported. Past that, his future is less clear. Pirates & Princesses reported on Oct. 2 that Disney TV chief Dana Walden wouldn’t commit to Kimmel’s future.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
TheWrap, Oct. 6, 2026: Kimmel monologue quotes and Melania Trump clips
Mediaite, Oct. 7, 2026: Trump rally quote, Kimmel’s FCC line
Forbes, Oct. 8, 2026: White House statement, Trump’s Texas clarification, Newsom reaction
Forbes, Oct. 1, 2026: Kimmel and De Niro sketch
JD Journal, Oct. 7, 2026: FCC license review timing
NPR, April 28, 2026: FCC license review after Kimmel’s Melania Trump joke
Deseret News, Dec. 9, 2025: Kimmel contract extension
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