'Lifted to new heights': Data expert shows how Trump made his enemy richer and more famous

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel had someone to thank for boosting his popularity and bank account.

CNN's Harry Enten reported Friday that Kimmel's audience has expanded — not just in the U.S. — but globally following his brief suspension in September and public battle with President Donald Trump.

"Jimmy Kimmel had the third highest increases of searches of any person. As I said back during this controversy in September, if Donald Trump's main prerogative was to increase Jimmy Kimmel's celebrity, he has absolutely done so. This is solely because of Donald Trump. He has lifted Jimmy Kimmel to new heights," Enten said.

Kimmel was Google's 2025 third most trending person in the world. But there's more to the story.

"And it's not just Google searches as a metric that shows this. No it's not. I mean, you can look at the actual ratings Kimmel shows with three plus million TV viewers five years pre-suspension, there were zero, zero shows in which Jimmy Kimmel Live had more than 3 million viewers on television. Since the suspension — it's three," Enten said.

Kimmel has also seen tremendous growth on YouTube, Enten explained.

You go on to YouTube, the YouTube views up 50% since Jimmy Kimmel suspension. So it's not just that Donald Trump has made Jimmy Kimmel more famous. He has given him more viewers on television, and he has given him more viewers on youtube. He has made Jimmy Kimmel a lot, a lot of money.

Kimmel had a message of gratitude and mockery for the president.

"None of this would ever have happened without the support of loyal viewers like President Trump, who has done so much this year to raise awareness of our show. Thank you, Mr. President, for making me number three in the world," Kimmel joked Thursday night on his late night show.