Former The Late Show host David Letterman joined ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday to praise him as “the leader of the resistance” and also tell Kimmel that he and his contemporaries are helping to save democracy every night with their shows.
Letterman kicked off his ode to his successors by asking, “People are aware of the fact that you are the leader of the resistance?” while Kimmel tried to downplay the idea, “Yes, I mean, I am the totally ineffective leader of the resistance, yes.”
Alluding to Kimmel’s suspension, Letterman continued, “By the way, will this be televised tonight? I can never keep track with you getting yanked off. Oh, well, excuse— I'm sorry.”
After the duo made that comment seem more sexual than it had to be, Letterman resumed, “And speaking of leaders, let me just say one thing here. I'm going to suck up to you because I feel like if I kind of tag along with you, I'll be glorified in retrospect in my own—you know, it's kind of like you just sit there. If the—now, this is irrespective of the party or political ideology— irrespective, party or political ideology—if the leader of the free world is a fool, the leader of the free world then should expect and examine every bit of ridicule he receives.”
Of course, Kimmel was not suspended for mocking President Trump. He was suspended for false depictions of Charlie Kirk’s assassin’s political ideology and then refusing to acknowledge he did anything wrong.
As it was, Kimmel later asked if Letterman ever wishes he was still hosting a show to comment on the current political climate. Letterman said no but had more praise for the current crop of late night hosts, “Boy, you would think, but no. I'm so glad to be out from under this mess because people like you and people like Stephen and people like Seth do such a masterful job of this, defending democracy… I thank God for you, thank God for others, SNL and everybody else, it's just—I think it's the way things need to be in a democracy that's seemingly this crippled.”
Kimmel added, “You did forget Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, I mean, there are many others that we could include here.”
Letterman’s idea about mocking the leader of the free world irrespective of ideology sounds nice, but the problem is that the comedy show hosts only seem to apply it to Republicans. When Letterman was still on the air, the percentage of jokes targeting George W. Bush for his presidency was far higher than those targeting Barack Obama during his. That trend has only gotten worse since Letterman’s retirement and during the Trump and Biden presidencies.
Here is a transcript for the December 9 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
12/9/2025
11:53 PM ET
DAVID LETTERMAN: People are aware of the fact that you are the leader of the resistance?
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yes, I mean, I am the totally ineffective leader of the resistance, yes.
LETTERMAN: By the way, will this be televised tonight? I can never keep track with you getting yanked off. Oh, well, excuse— I'm sorry.
KIMMEL: Come on, wake up over there for God’s sake over there. Dave's here. Anton would have hit that with no problem.
LETTERMAN: Thank you very much. And speaking of leaders, let me just say one thing here. I'm going to suck up to you because I feel like if I kind of tag along with you, I'll be glorified in retrospect in my own—you know, it's kind of like you just sit there. If the—now, this is irrespective of the party or political ideology— irrespective, party or political ideology—if the leader of the free world is a fool, the leader of the free world then should expect and examine every bit of ridicule he receives.
…
LETTERMAN: Boy, you would think, but no. I'm so glad to be out from under this mess —
KIMMEL: Good.
LETTERMAN: —because people like you and people like Stephen and people like Seth do such a masterful job of this, defending democracy. And about all I'm capable of showing up every now and then and saying “[bleep] you, Waymo.”
That's it. By the way, that's about all I got, and but I thank God for you, thank God for others, SNL and everybody else, it's just—I think it's the way things need to be in a democracy that's seemingly this crippled.
KIMMEL: Well, I prefer you limited it to me but I appreciate that.
LETTERMAN: Well, you—you know.
KIMMEL: You did forget Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, I mean, there are many others that we could include here.
