Comedian Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late-night show on Tuesday after conversing with Disney executives, and Washington was watching.
“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!” President Donald Trump, who had celebrated the host’s suspension after controversial remarks on the Charlie Kirk assassination, wrote on the platform Truth Social on Tuesday.
He added that Kimmel “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.”
For some Democrats, the drama over whether or not “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” remains on air is also an important political battle.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on X Tuesday that “This is about fighting for free speech and against these abuses by Donald Trump and [Federal Communications Commission head] Brendan Carr.
Democrats have accused Carr, who chairs the Federal Communications Commission, of exerting pressure on Disney to remove Kimmel from the airwaves.
Some in the Republican Party, too, have expressed opposition to the idea of government pressure on speech.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., while not accepting the assertion that the Trump administration had forced Kimmel off air, said Tuesday that any such move would be ill-advised.
“In any circumstance, the answer is these ought to be decisions left to the marketplace,” Thune told CNN. “Having said that, broadcast companies on public airwaves that are owned by the American people, which comes with a higher level of responsibility.”
To be sure, Democrats have not adopted free-speech absolutism in the wake of Kimmel’s near-cancellation.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., pressed on CNN over whether President Joe Biden’s alleged pressuring of social media companies to suppress content on the COVID-19 pandemic was analogous to any alleged pressure from the Trump administration, he excused the Biden administration.
“I don’t think they’re the same, simply because Biden—if any of this took place—these weren’t jokes. This wasn’t a TV show. This was a pandemic. And we didn’t need to have misinformation going out about this pandemic,” he said.
“There was enough coming from the president at the time. What, put Clorox in your veins? That’s the kind of foolishness the Biden administration was trying to, let’s just say, oppose. And so, what they were asking is, let’s not put out information that you know is not true.”
Clyburn was referring to a claim by Democrats that during COVID-19 Trump suggested people inject bleach into their bodies to treat the virus. The Snopes fact-checker labeled this Democrat claim “mostly false.”
