The White House has lashed out at Jimmy Kimmel after the TV host ripped into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s handling of the second Signalgate scandal.
On Tuesday, Kimmel laid into Hegseth over reports he had again disclosed sensitive information about airstrikes in Yemen, this time in a Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and lawyer. In his monologue, the comedian accused Hegseth of being a ‘leaker’ and branded his attempts to deflect criticism as ‘bull****’.
The White House has now hit back at Kimmel’s comments and defended the defense secretary.
“As President Trump has said, Jimmy Kimmel is talentless and suffers from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a White House spokesperson told The Independent.
“Secretary Hegseth is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon - restoring the warfighting ethos, boosting military recruitment, and ensuring the safety of the American people.”
Trump Derangement Syndrome, or “TDS,” is a faux illness that is used by the president and his supporters to target his critics by claiming they are obsessed. Last month, a handful of Republican lawmakers sought to introduce a new bill that proposed classifying “TDS” as an actual mental illness.
Kimmel and Trump have a history of clashes, with the TV comedian a regular critic of the billionaire and the president not shy of hitting back.
The feud between the pair appeared to begin when Trump abruptly canceled an appearance on the comics’ Jimmy Kimmel Live show in 2015, according to Variety.
“Donald Trump canceled on us last night. I don’t know what happened. We’re delighted, needless to say,” the host declared in a radio broadcast. When Trump did eventually appear on Kimmel’s late show two months later the host teased him by saying that the Back to the Future screenwriter had based the villainous character of “Biff” on him.
Over the years the pair have continued to take potshots at each other, with Kimmel slamming many of Trump’s policies and Trump giving withering verdicts on the comedian’s performances.
Last year, Trump wrote a damning Truth Social post on the comic, stating: “Has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars?”
“His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be.”
