President Donald Trump has pitted himself against late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel for the battle he appears to think matters more than any other to American voters—TV ratings.

“If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president,” Donald Trump, a former reality TV star, said in a rambling Oval Office speech.

His comments came ahead of his hosting the 48th annual Kennedy Center Awards ceremony on Sunday, which will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 23.

Kimmel has never hosted that ceremony. A long-time Trump critic, he has found himself consistently on the receiving end of the president’s ire since being briefly suspended by the network ABC in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination.

This year’s Kennedy Center event marks the first time in th

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