Trump gloats over Jimmy Kimmel being pulled off air amidst free speech fears

President Donald Trump has reacted to Jimmy Kimmel being pulled off the air, and unsurprisingly he’s thrilled. Meanwhile, many in the U.S. are expressing serious concerns about the implications this may have for free speech.

ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from broadcast indefinitely on Wednesday, seemingly responding after Republicans objected to the hosts’ live comments concerning right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk’s killer. Specifically, Kimmel said, “The MAGA gang [are] desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” 

“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘s suspension was announced.

Trump had pushed for ABC to lose its broadcasting licence earlier this year, claiming that the major network was a biased “ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY” which aired “97% BAD STORIES” about him. A substantial portion of Trump’s ire had been directed toward Kimmel, the president having called for him to be taken off air as recently as two weeks ago.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Brendan Carr threatened ABC’s broadcasting license and called for it to “take action” on Kimmel.

Following news of Kimmel’s suspension, Trump called for talk shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyersto also face the axe. CBS already cancelledThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert in July, which the president also publicly celebrated. Colbert’s show was cancelled days after he accused CBS parent company Paramount of taking a “big fat bribe” from Trump.

“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible,” Trump continued in his post on Tuesday. “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

However, not everyone is as gleeful about Kimmel being suspended. Many commentators have expressed serious concerns about the implications this has for freedom of speech.

“An inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship and control,” sole Democratic FCC memberAnna Gomez posted to X on Wednesday. “This Administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression.”

“We had a threat of retaliation by a government official for someone not pronouncing government-commanded speech,” Atlantic writer David Frum told CNN. “There was an order from the state about what people must say, Jimmy Kimmel did not say that, and his corporation was threatened with consequences by the government official.

“This is not cancel culture because it’s not culture. It’s state repression. It’s an order from the government. ‘Here is the script, you must read, if you do not read it, you will be taken off the air.’ Jimmy Kimmel didn’t read it, he was taken off the air.”

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