Jimmy Kimmel jabs Trump in return to TV: 'That backfired bigly!'

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel jabbed President Donald Trump's administration for its pressure campaign to remove his show from TV in a new episode that aired Tuesday night.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was suspended "indefinitely" last week by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group after Kimmel made comments about the killer of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk that the companies thought were insensitive. Nexstar and Sinclair both continued preempting the airing of Kimmel's show on Tuesday, a move that impacted about 70 local ABC affiliates nationwide.

Kimmel received a standing ovation when he came out on stage and addressed some of the controversy during his opening monologue.

"You almost have to feel sorry for him," Kimmel said of the president. "He tried his best to cancel me; instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly!"

He mentioned that during his brief suspension, a TV host from Germany offered him a job.

"Can you imagine, our country has become so authoritarian that someone from Germany was like, 'Hey, you want to come over here?'" Kimmel said.

He also called on Americans to speak out against the un-American" actions of the Trump administration.

"What's important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this," Kimmel said.