U.S. late-night hosts slam President Trump for mocking ratings amid Covid-19 pandemic

Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert have slammed U.S. President Donald Trump for focusing on the ratings of their TV shows during the coronavirus pandemic.

America's Twitter-loving leader took to the social media platform on Tuesday to praise Fox News host Greg Gutfeld for drawing in more viewers than late-night hosts Kimmel, Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon.

"Wow! Congratulations to Greg Gutfeld, a one time Trump Hater who has come all the way home," he tweeted. "His Ratings easily beat no talent Stephen Colbert, nice guy Jimmy Fallon, and wacko 'last placer' Jimmy Kimmel. Greg built his show from scratch, and did a great job in doing so."

Kimmel responded to the President's tweet with a video criticising the politician for commenting on TV ratings at a time when thousands of Americans have died of the Covid-19 virus.

"This is what it feels like when the 'President' of the United States attacks you personally," he captioned the clip, before denouncing America's leader as failing to focus on helping citizens get through the crisis.

"I hope he wasn't talking about me," the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host joked, before continuing: "I think this was another typo situation. I think what he meant to tweet was, 'I am completely devastated by the loss of life caused by this insidious virus. My thoughts are with the families of those who have passed. I pledge to spend every waking moment working to make sure our medical workers have the support they need and every American has access to tests. PS - congrats to Greg Gutfeld.'"

Colbert also shot back by referencing comments from Trump questioning how he got his job and mocking the President's appointment of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a key adviser.

"It's nice to know that Trump is staying laser-focused on the ball during a crisis,” he added.