Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) took to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday to debut his bid for governor of California, entering a crowded field of contenders looking to succeed Gavin Newsom.

“The president is not going to like this show,” Swalwell said as he sat down with Kimmel.

“He is especially not going to like it tonight,” the host said.

They chatted for a bit about the Jeffrey Epstein files before Swalwell said, “I came here tonight, Jimmy, to tell you and your audience that I am running to be the next governor of California.” The audience then cheered.

Swalwell was elected to the House in 2012 and, during Trump’s tenure, has become one of the president’s highest-profile critics. He ran for president in 2020 but dropped out before the primaries.

Kimmel himself has been a target of Trump, most recently this week as the president called on ABC to fire him.

In his introductory campaign video, Swalwell cited Trump right off the bat, saying, “The next governor of California has two jobs: One, keep the worst president in our history out of our homes, out of our streets and out of our lives. … And two, bring us a new California.”

Kimmel asked Swalwell about a Justice Department investigation looking into potential mortgage fraud. “Nonsense,” Swalwell said, noting other investigations of other presidential foes including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Watch the clip above.

Earlier in the show, Kimmel responded to Trump’s latest attack, telling the audience, “He keeps saying we have bad ratings. And you should listen to him – because if anyone knows about bad ratings – it’s that guy!”

Swalwell joins a field of Democratic contenders that includes former Rep. Katie Porter; former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra; and another 2020 presidential contender, Tom Steyer, the hedge fund founder and climate activist who joined the race this week. They will compete in an open primary next year, along with Republicans who include Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County, and former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton.

There could be more. Developer Rick Caruso has been looking at the race, but he’s also been focused on Los Angeles and critical of Mayor Karen Bass, who faces reelection next year. The latest entry of candidates follows the decisions by former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) not to run.

Swalwell is not the first to announce a campaign bid on late-night TV. Just over two decades ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to say that he was running in the California recall. In the 2020 presidential race, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) went on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to say she was running.

The FCC has treated late-night talk shows as exempt from broadcasters’ equal time requirements, but Trump’s chairman of the agency, Brendan Carr, has recently suggested that they would look into The View and other shows to see if they still qualify as a “bona fide news program.”