KIMMEL LIVES: ABC’s late night host Jimmy Kimmel returned to the air last night explaining but not apologizing for the joke that got him suspended. He opened a lengthy monologue with, “As I was saying before I was interrupted.”

  But minutes later, his voice breaking, Kimmel said that while his comments last week about the suspected shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk seemed “ill-timed, or unclear, or maybe both … It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”

  But returning quickly to taking on Donald Trump and the government, Kimmel said, “A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American.”

  Nexstar and Sinclair, the two largest owners of affiliate stations, said they would continue to pre-empt the show.

  Kimmel, ABC, and the Walt Disney Company had been threatened with punishment by FCC chair Brendan Carr. “This show is not important,” Kimmel said. “What’s important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”  Then he made fun of Brendan Carr.

  In the most emotional moment of his monologue, Kimmel noted that Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, publicly forgave the young man who killed her husband. “If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was, that’s it, a selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply.”

ABOUT FACE: In what appears to be a reversal of his stands on the Ukraine war, President Trump said yesterday that NATO countries should shoot down Russian drones and aircraft violating their airspace and that Ukraine could take back its territory occupied by Russia with military support from NATO and the US.

   In an announcement with global implications made on the trivial venue of Truth Social, Trump said, “Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win.” He said, “In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.’”

  Trump did not promise to give direct military support to Ukraine, rather to NATO countries, “to do what they want with them,” and with a kiss-off, “Good luck to all!” 

ENOUGH ABOUT ME: Trump berated the UN General assembly yesterday in a speech loaded with self-admiration and criticism of world leaders, including his predecessor. He said green energy and illegal immigration are destroying countries. He critiqued the UN for not living up to its potential.

  Speaking initially about himself and what he believes to be his accomplishments, Trump claimed he has brought the United States into a “golden age” and proclaimed that the country under his leadership is the greatest it has ever been while making historic efforts to bring peace to a troubled world. He repeated his claim that he has ended seven wars and that, “Everybody said I should win the Nobel Peace Prize for ending all these wars.” 

  He didn’t say who “everybody” is.

  Trump repeatedly trashed the administration of former President Joe Biden and the “fake news.” He said Washington DC was the “crime capital” of America and now it’s completely safe because he sent in the National Guard and federal agents. He derided wind energy generated by turbines made in China. He dismissed global warming and climate change. “It’s the greatest con  job ever perpetrated on the world in my opinion.” 

  The President praised burning coal for energy. “I call it clean beautiful coal.”

  He even said that the United Nations building would have been nicer if his advice had been heeded during renovations.

  Trump lectured members of the General Assembly about illegal migration and allowing their countries to be destroyed. It’s time to end the experiment of open borders, he said. “I’m really good at this stuff and your countries are going to hell.”

  He castigated them for continuing to buy Russian oil while the Russians are at war with Ukraine.

  And Trump declared, “I’ve been right about everything.”

THE REGIME:

— “The President on his Truth Social feed yesterday said he sees no reason to meet with congressional Democrats to head off deadlock on a spending bill and possible government shutdown. He called their demands 

“unserious and ridiculous,”  then continued on a rant about free healthcare for Illegal aliens, transgender surgery for minors, dead people on Medicaid, and men playing in women’s sports. Then he said he won the 2024 “IN A HISTORIC LANDSLIDE.”

THE SPIN RACK: Lawyers for rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs asked a federal judge to sentence his client to time already served, which is 14 months. A jury  convicted Combs this past summer of transporting people across state lines for the purposes of prostitution. He’s been held in a Brooklyn jail since his arrest. — Ryan Routh, 59, who was caught lying in wait to shoot President Trump while he played golf, attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen after he was convicted yesterday of assault and firearm charges. Routh represented himself at trial and offered no defense. — Errol Musk, the father of Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren, according to a NY Times investigation. Errol and Elon are estranged and the Times says this may be part of the explanation. “The family’s troubles,” the Times reports, “have entangled Elon Musk in a painful three-decade multigenerational saga that continues to trail him.”    

BELOW THE FOLD: NBC’s Jimmy Fallon said last night, “Welcome to ‘The Tonight Show.’ Hey, and if you’re tuning in to see what I’ll say about my suspension the last couple of days, again you’re watching the wrong Jimmy.” 

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