What did David Letterman say? Fans back former late-night host after Trump attack over defending Jimmy Kimmel

President Donald Trump has recently reacted to former late-night host David Letterman’s message, calling him “highly overrated” and a “loser.”

This came after Letterman spoke to journalist Jeffrey Goldberg while defending Jimmy Kimmel, during The Atlantic Festival in New York City. He said:

“I just, I feel bad about this because we all see where this is going, correct? It’s managed media and it’s no good. It’s silly; it’s ridiculous; and you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.”

ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel after he made comments on the killing of conservative Charlie Kirk. The move caused widespread backlash from fans, celebrities, and advocates who accused the network of censorship and bowing to political pressure.

Trump's recent remarks on David Letterman have not gone down well with the fans, as they took to social media to defend him.

Here is what we know.

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Fans defend David Letterman

In the ongoing war of words between David Letterman and Donald Trump, the President blasted the former late-night host, labelling him as “highly overrated.” In his post shared on Truth Social account, Trump wrote:

“Whatever happened to the very highly overrated David Letterman, whose ratings were never very good, either. He looks like hell, but at least he knew when to quit. LOSER!!!”

Fans took to X to support Letterman, calling out Donald Trump for his remarks. Here is what they said:

“In the last 24 hours, Donald Trump has threatened Venezuela and Afghanistan, called two Democratic senators “terrible sleazebags,” called David Letterman a loser, tweeted what seems like a DM to Pam Bondi, yelled about justice being served NOW, and then this…Great work, America.” A fan noted.

“So now the toddler doesn’t like David Letterman, because he said some truths about trump today. HE IS SUCH A F**K*NG CHILD. HE IS THE LOSER. I HATE HIM WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. He is destroying this country. PLEASE SOMEONE STOP THIS MAN. CONGRESS? Mother Nature? HELP.” Another said.

“Grandpa must’ve seen this Letterman clip and it got under his skin” A third person reacted.

“David Letterman is witty, beloved and comfortable in his skin. All things Donald Trump can never hope to be.” Someone else commented.

However, there were a few who had a different opinion.

“For years, I never missed an episode. After college I worked nights a lot so my VCR was perma-programmed. Dave got bitter & political during the last Dubya years, and became a complete hypocrite for 0bama. But most importantly, no longer funny. At all.” A user noted.

“2017 Trump is back and I'm loving every minute of it.” A person quipped.

“Trump just torched David Letterman: “He looks like hell, but at least he knew when to quit.” Classic Trump — brutally honest and funny at the same time. Nobody does it better. #Trump #Letterman #MAGA” Another agreed.

The 77-year-old Letterman quit his late-night show in 2015. In his interview with GQ magazine in 2024, he admitted that Hollywood made him a “worse person.” He said:

“In show business, I find that I have pretended to be someone I’m truly not.”

He added:

“I just feel like, personally, I have greater humanity than I did when I was in show business. It was all single-minded and great pressure, real unimagined, and I felt like it’s all on me and it’s all on me, and that it was all nonsense.”

After leaving the show, Letterman chose to spend his years in Indiana with his family.