Christmas speech in full length "King Donny the Eighth": Jimmy Kimmel attacks Trump and warns of the collapse of democracy

Instead of contemplative tones, there were clear words: In Channel 4's "alternative Christmas address", US presenter Jimmy Kimmel got even with President Donald Trump.

The British broadcaster Channel 4's "alternative Christmas speech" has been a tradition for decades and sees itself as a deliberate counterpoint to the British monarch's official festive address. This year, this role was given to American late-night presenter Jimmy Kimmel, who used the platform to make a sharp political statement.

Kimmel directed his speech primarily against US President Donald Trump, whom he accused of systematically undermining the democratic system in the United States. In provocative hyperbole, he declared that the past year had been particularly successful from a "fascist perspective", as tyranny had flourished in the USA.

«We're in a bit of a tailspin right now, but we'll bounce back.»

Jimmy Kimmel

Late-night presenter

The presenter drew comparisons to authoritarian states such as Russia and North Korea and warned how quickly democratic achievements could be lost. With regard to Trump, Kimmel spoke of "King Donny the Eighth", who calls for executions. Central institutions such as freedom of the press, science, medicine and the independence of the judiciary had come under massive pressure in the USA.

The background to the speech was a conflict between Kimmel and Trump that had come to a head over the course of the year. Following controversial statements by Kimmel, his late-night show was temporarily taken off the air, which Trump publicly welcomed. The removal sparked a broad debate about freedom of speech and freedom of the press before the show returned after a short break.

blue News has transcribed and translated Jimmy Kimmel's speech on Channel 4. It can be listened to here. A short excerpt can be found in the player above.

I have no idea if you know who I am. But I've been asked to give the alternative Christmas speech this year (and I've heard that's a big deal). So I hope you know - if you don't: I host what you call a chat show (we call it a talk show) in what I guess you call the colonies? At least I think so. To be honest, I have no idea what exactly is going on over there.

But I do know what's going on here. And I can tell you that from a fascist perspective, this has been a very good year. Tyranny is booming here.

You may have read in your colorfully illustrated newspapers that the president of my country would like to shut me up - because I don't adore him the way he would like me to. The American government issued a threat against me and against the company I work for, and suddenly we were off the air. But do you know what happened next? A Christmas miracle happened. Well, it was in September. A September miracle. But the holidays seem to come earlier every year anyway, don't they?

Millions upon millions of people stood up and said, "No, this is not acceptable." People who had never seen my show; people who had publicly stated that they hated my show, spoke up, took to the streets. They did this to defend the right to freedom of expression - and because so many people spoke out, we came back. Our mission came back stronger than ever. We won, the president lost - and now I'm back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician in the world a good, and richly deserved, bollocking. That's a word, isn't it? Did I use it correctly?

And I'm telling you this story because you might be thinking: "Oh, a government silencing its critics happens in countries like Russia or North Korea - or Los Angeles - but not in the UK." That's exactly what we thought. And now we have King Donny the Eighth calling for executions. It's happening fast.

You know, it's kind of ironic: We Americans are very proud of not having a king. In a way, that's why we left [you Brits]. Earlier this year, tens of millions of people took to the streets in our country, in demonstrations called "No Kings". You had those too. And just for the record: We have nothing against your king. I mean, I don't know if you knew this, but his son lives here. We - well, some of us - just have a problem with the guy who thinks he's our king.

Here in the United States, we are currently tearing down the structures of our democracy both figuratively and quite literally. From the free press, to science, to medicine, to judicial independence, to the White House itself, we're in a bit of a mess. And we know that affects you as well, and I just wanted to say "sorry". And we want you to know - or at least I want you to know: We're not all like him. We're not all like that.

Look, I know from the musical Hamilton that our countries didn't get off to the best of starts. But I also know (from watching [the movie] Love Actually) that we have a special relationship. So if I may speak on behalf of my country - which I certainly don't - our message to you, our friends on the other side of the Atlantic, at Christmas is: Don't give up on us.

We are in a bit of a tailspin at the moment, but we will get back on track. It may not seem like it at the moment, but we like you. We even like the things about you that you don't like yourselves. Simon Cowell, for example. We're not particularly clever. We are Americans. Nobody knows better than you that we're always a bit late. But will we get through in the end? Maybe we will. Give us about three years. Please. Thank you for your patience, and thank you for Spider-Man. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.