Actor Robert De Niro joined ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday in the character of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in what was supposed to be a satirical look at the relationship between the FCC and Kimmel but was actually just an opportunity for the duo to recall some of their favorite anti-Trump insults.
At one point in his monologue, De Niro “surprised” Kimmel by coming out on stage and portraying Carr as the head of some Mafia speech police. However, it quickly became clear the point was just to rehash some of Kimmel’s more famous insults as De Niro recalled, “Let's see. It says we have 192 instances of you poking fun at the president's appearance. Did you say the president looks like a Macy's parade balloon filled with cottage cheese?”
Robert De Niro appeared with Jimmy Kimmel last night in the role of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, which was really just an opportunity to retell some of Kimmel's favorite insults, "Let's see. It says we have 192 instances of you poking fun at the president's appearance. Did you say… pic.twitter.com/vYzejbebjz
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) October 1, 2026
Fake Carr also wondered, “Did you say the scarf the president was wearing brought out the color in his neck vagina?” and “Do you recall referring to the commander-in-chief as Mar-a-Lardo, Benito Gasolini, Captain Cankle-roo?”
Kimmel then inquired, “Cankle-roo, yeah. What is the point of this? I don’t—”
De Niro then pushed Kimmel’s face to the side as he declared, “Did I tell you it was your turn to talk, numb nuts? You speak when I tell you to speak and otherwise you shut the [bleep] up.”
Suddenly against swearing, Kimmel retorted, “Hold on a second. You cannot use language like that on television. There are rules, you know.”
Keeping with the mob boss act, De Niro replied by gesturing at sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, “I run the FCC. Who's going to stop me? Who? Him? Don't get involved. Now, let's see. What else do we have here?”
Getting back to the Trump insults, De Niro recalled, “Did you say that President Trump has touched more women than the music of Adele?”
Kimmel insisted, “Come on. Now, you—you have to admit that's pretty funny, right?”
De Niro then smacked Kimmel again before threatening, “You're doing it again. Am I going to have to tie your [bleep] to a bag of doorknobs and kick you down the [bleep] stairs? This year you've also made over 3,000 jokes about the president's beautiful son, Eric. Do you have any idea of what that kid's been through? Do you know how hard it is to go through life looking like Beavis [bleep] Butthead?”
The skit’s whole premise was flawed from the start, as Kimmel earlier referred to his 2025 suspension as “that unexpected FCC vacation week.” In reality it was ABC that suspended him because they were worried he was going to make the situation worse after Kimmel had gotten himself in trouble over his remarks about the political identity of Charlie Kirk’s assassin.
Here is a transcript for the September 30 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live
9/30/2026
11:45 PM ET
ROBERT DE NIRO/BRENDAN CARR: Let's see. It says we have 192 instances of you poking fun at the president's appearance. Did you say the president looks like a Macy's parade balloon filled with cottage cheese?
JIMMY KIMMEL: I may have said that.
DE NIRO: Did you say the scarf the president was wearing brought out the color in his neck vagina?
KIMMEL: I don't recall.
DE NIRO: You don't recall?
KIMMEL: No.
DE NIRO: Do you recall referring to the commander-in-chief as Mar-a-Lardo, Benito Gasolini, Captain Cankle-roo?
KIMMEL: Cankle-roo, yeah. What is the point of this? I don’t—
DE NIRO: Did I tell you it was your turn to talk, numb nuts? You speak when I tell you to speak and otherwise you shut the [bleep] up.
KIMMEL: Hold on a second. You cannot use language like that on television. There are rules, you know.
DE NIRO: There are rules?
KIMMEL: Yeah.
DE NIRO: I run the FCC. Who's going to stop me? Who? Him? Don't get involved. Now, let's see. What else do we have here?
KIMMEL: Probably nothing. I don't know.
DE NIRO: Well, let's see. Did you say that President Trump has touched more women than the music of Adele?
KIMMEL: Come on. Now, you—you have to admit that's pretty funny, right?
TRUMP: You're doing it again. Am I going to have to tie your [bleep] to a bag of doorknobs and kick you down the [bleep] stairs? This year you've also made over 3,000 jokes about the president's beautiful son, Eric.
KIMMEL: Oh.
DE NIRO: Do you have any idea of what that kid's been through?
KIMMEL: No.
DE NIRO: Do you know how hard it is to go through life looking like Beavis [bleep] Butthead?
KIMMEL: You know what? Fine. You know what? I'll go easier on Eric, okay?
DE NIRO: Was that so hard? Be nice. Capiche?
