Jimmy Kimmel's Prediction For JD Vance's Future Career Takes Brutal Shot At His Notorious Eyeliner
On September 17, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was pulled off the air after Jimmy Kimmel made comments about the death of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel's late night suspension had everyone laying into Donald Trump, as many thought pressure from the Trump administration helped lead to Kimmel's removal, serving as an attack on free speech. He was back on the air by September 23, however, and Kimmel took aim at Trump in his return to late night TV. He's also had some strong words for JD Vance. In his opening monologue on September 29, he showed a clip of Vance talking to Laura Ingraham on Fox News about how Kimmel had low ratings and those were to blame for him being taken off the air, not Trump or the FCC.
Kimmel fired back about popularity in his monologue in what seemed to be a clear jab at the rumors that Vance wears eyeliner. Kimmel called Vance "Vice President Maybelline" and said, "In 3.5 years, I'm not the one going to be doing mascara tutorials on YouTube."
Jimmy Kimmel to J.D. Vance: "My ratings aren't very good? Last time I checked, yours were somewhere between a hair in your salad and chlamydia." pic.twitter.com/wttftbVxlZ
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) September 30, 2025
He also came after Trump while he was at it, saying, "How did we wind up with a president and a vice president who wear more makeup than Kylie Jenner and Lady Gaga combined?" The president has had some notable makeup mistakes — just look at Trump's state visit to the U.K. for a few examples.
JD Vance seems to be following Trump's lead
Jimmy Kimmel may have a point about JD Vance's approval rating. Vance's numbers as VP have remained fairly consistently poor; more people have always found him "unfavorable" rather than "favorable," according to Civiqs. YouGov also has him polling at 38% for popularity, so we're not sure Vance is the best person to be talking about poor ratings without taking a good look in the mirror.
Kimmel's return to TV saw a big viewership surge, and while he hasn't maintained the 6.3 million people who watched his comeback, he's still seen more than 2 million people tune in. This is hundreds of thousands more than were watching him before he was pulled.
Vance seems to be backing his boss all the way in coming after Kimmel, and Kimmel isn't the first (or only) comic with whom Trump has had beef. Trump has long been a critic of late night TV show hosts. He celebrated in July when it was announced that Stephen Colbert's show would be ending in May 2026, and some think Colbert's show got pulled so the network could stay on Trump's good side, especially considering it was the No. 1 late night show. Just a few months later, the Kimmel drama seems to have confirmed that Trump has the most fragile ego in presidential history. While Kimmel was off the air, Trump was asked about the situation, and he said the FCC should consider pulling the licenses of channels that air negative things about him.