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By Jordan King
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President Donald Trump has expressed his anger over Jimmy Kimmel's return to late-night television on Tuesday, saying that the comedian was “not funny” and “his talent was never there.”
Kimmel returned to his show on Tuesday after a six-day suspension following a joke he made in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death.
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Trump posted on Truth Social: “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his 'talent' was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
He added: “He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Why It Matters
Kimmel's suspension and unsuspension is part of a major conversation about free speech in America right now, with multiple people fired, suspended or expelled for what they have said in the aftermath of Kirk's death.
Newsweek has extensively covered how MAGA is divided over this here.
The situation highlights concerns over corporate media influence, the boundaries of on-air commentary, and the potential impact of government and regulatory involvement in entertainment programming.
What To Know
Kimmel was suspended last week, after the chair of broadcast regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, threatened to act against ABC and its parent company Disney for his comments after Kirk's death.
During last Monday's show, Kimmel said the "MAGA gang was desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it."
He accused them of "working very hard to capitalize on the murder" and then joked about Trump's response to a reporter asking him how he was "holding up" after Kirk's death—Trump said he was "very good" and then started speaking about new construction being carried out for the White House's new ballroom.
"He's at the fourth stage of grief: construction," Kimmel said. "This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish."
On Wednesday, when FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a longtime Trump supporter, spoke with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, he told ABC and Disney: "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Within a matter of hours, ABC announced that Kimmel's show would be taken off air.
When Trump was asked about the Kimmel situation during a press conference in the U.K. last week he said: "Well Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about Charlie Kirk."
Multiple people have spoken out against the suspension, including several conservatives who are worried about the right embracing cancel culture.
However, this week, ABC said it would reinstate Jimmy Kimmel Live! less than a week after its original suspension, following "thoughtful conversations" with the host.
"Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country," the Walt Disney Company said in a statement. "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."
Multiple people have criticized this sequence of events, including the director of the Democracy and Technology Division at the American Civil Liberties Union, Christopher Anders, who said in a statement: "This is beyond McCarthyism. Trump officials are repeatedly abusing their power to stop ideas they don't like, deciding who can speak, write, and even joke. The Trump administration's actions, paired with ABC's capitulation, represent a grave threat to our First Amendment freedoms."
Conservatives have also spoken out against the move, including podcaster Candace Owens, who said in her most recent episode: "Whether or not you think it was an insensitive joke, I don't think that would have been the justification for saying that he now needs to donate to charity and lose his whole life."
"Some people are saying 'hey Candace they did this to us' and you're not wrong," she continued. "If you are on the right and you are saying that when the whole George Floyd thing happened, people lose their jobs for saying sensible things or making a joke—you are correct."
"But if you're not recognizing that when you just flip the coin, it's the same people that are gaining more power," she added. "I just want the attacks on free speech to stop."
What People Are Saying
Christopher Anders, the director of the Democracy and Technology Division at the American Civil Liberties Union, said about the suspension: "This is beyond McCarthyism. Trump officials are repeatedly abusing their power to stop ideas they don't like, deciding who can speak, write, and even joke. The Trump administration's actions, paired with ABC's capitulation, represent a grave threat to our First Amendment freedoms."
Jimmy Kimmel joked in his first show back: “(Trump) tried his best to cancel me, instead he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”
Conservative podcaster Candace Owens said: "Whether or not you think it was an insensitive joke, I don't think that would have been the justification for saying that he now needs to donate to charity and lose his whole life. Some people are saying 'hey Candace they did this to us' and you're not wrong. If you are on the right and you are saying that when the whole George Floyd thing happened, people lose their jobs for saying sensible things or making a joke—you are correct."
"But if you're not recognizing that when you just flip the coin, it's the same people that are gaining more power," she added. "I just want the attacks on free speech to stop."
What Happens Next
Kimmel is just the most high-profile example of some of the many people who have been fired, suspended or expelled because of what they have said in the aftermath of Kirk's killing.
Pilots, teachers and professors are among some others who have been fired or suspended while some students have found themselves in trouble for their reactions on campus and are "no longer" enrolled.
Vice President JD Vance defended action like this, when he said on The Charlie Kirk Show: "When you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call them out. And hell, call their employer."
He argued: "By celebrating that murder, apologizing for it, and emphasizing not Charlie's innocence but the fact that he said things some didn't like—even to the point of lying about what he actually said—many of these people are creating an environment where things like this are inevitably going to happen."
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