Jimmy Kimmel has made several different “big” comments recently, so what he exactly said depends on which moment people online are talking about. Here are the main ones trending right now.

1. Emotional monologue about Alex Pretti and ICE

The quote most heavily circulating today is from his tearful monologue about the killing of Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents, where he went very hard at ICE and the Trump administration’s handling of it.

Some of the key things he said:

  • He described the scenes out of Minneapolis as “a mix of shock and sickness,” talking about American citizens being “ripped from their families” and pulled from cars for “the ‘crime’ of having an accent or some other trivial matter.”
  • He condemned the agents as “poorly trained, shamefully led, masked aggressors” and called them “goons perpetrating despicable, inhumane, and even criminal acts.”
  • On the shooting of Alex Pretti, he pointed out that Pretti never drew his licensed gun and that it was taken from him before agents fired:

“They fired ten rounds at an ICU nurse and then tell us, ‘Oh, it was justified, you know?’”

  • He asked viewers directly:

“Is this the law and order you endorsed if you supported this? Every single day feels like a nightmare.”

  • He pressed for basic agreement:

“Can we agree that peaceful demonstrators… should not be gunned down in the streets by those we fund to safeguard us?”

  • He argued that if leaders are “intentionally fostering violence and fear,” then “we require new leaders. Because these individuals are not leaders.”
  • At the end, he paid tribute to Pretti:

“Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse who cared for veterans, which is about as patriotic as one can get… Alex Pretti, may he rest in peace.”

This is the segment where he also urged conservatives to step up: he said he was “now convinced that the only individuals who can halt this are those on the right” and called for “honorable individuals on the right to exhibit courage and common sense.”

2. His jab at Trump at the Critics Choice Awards

Another clip people keep referencing is from the 2026 Critics Choice Awards , where Kimmel won Best Talk Show and used his acceptance speech to roast President Donald Trump.

The notable lines:

  • He opened with a joke about Trump’s new international award:

“A FIFA Peace Prize would have been better, but this is nice too,”
poking fun at Trump getting a special “FIFA Peace Prize” during a World Cup event.

  • He finished with a more direct punchline:

“And most of all, I want to thank our president, Donald Jennifer Trump, without whom we would be going home empty-handed tonight,”
joking that Trump’s behavior continually supplies material for his show.

That line about “Donald Jennifer Trump” and the FIFA Peace Prize gag are what you’ll see quoted in headlines and captions around the awards clip.

3. His recent Trump/Greenland and Epstein remarks

In a recent bit about Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland , Kimmel combined political criticism with dark humor and a nod to the still-unreleased Epstein materials.

Key things he said there:

  • On why Greenland doesn’t want to join the U.S.:

“Naturally, they are not inclined to become part of the United States at this time… Even people within the United States are not thrilled about being part of it. It’s akin to being cast in a film that features Bill Cosby in the lead role. No one wants that.”

  • On Trump’s focus on Greenland:

“Maybe he is directing his focus on Greenland to distract us from another island… We are still awaiting those Epstein documents.”

In another segment this month, he mocked Trump’s “FIFA Peace Prize” and threats to use the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, saying Trump has “kicked 2026 off with a bang” while violence and brutality escalate in multiple cities.

4. Why people are asking “what exactly did he say?”

People online are latching onto different parts of these remarks:

  • Some are sharing his “goons” / “despicable, inhumane, even criminal acts” comments about ICE and the line about needing “new leaders” if they are stoking violence.
  • Others are focused on the FIFA Peace Prize and “Donald Jennifer Trump” jokes as examples of him “going too far” or, conversely, “finally saying what everyone’s thinking.”
  • The Greenland/Epstein line is circulating in more conspiratorial and politics-heavy forums because he explicitly mentions “those Epstein documents.”

If you tell me which clip or context you mean (the Alex Pretti monologue, the awards speech, or the Greenland/Epstein segment), I can narrow it down to just the exact lines from that moment. Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.