Last week, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s nighttime show indefinitely, just weeks after CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show. Both were tied to complaints from President Donald Trump and his appointee, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr.
These talk show hosts did not reveal national security secrets or advocate violence, two very limited exceptions to the broad protections of the First Amendment’s guarantee that the government cannot interfere with freedom of speech. Colbert, in the tradition of nighttime hosts for more than 50 years, made jokes about the President. Kimmel, responding to the murder of Trump supporter Charlie Kirk, said the following:
We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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.
In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.
There is nothing inflammatory or misleading about Kimmel’s statement, which is sympathetic to the President’s feelings and critical of those who made unsupported accusations before any information about the suspect was made public.
Chairman Carr appeared on a podcast hosted by Benny Johnson and said the following:
We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.
He has now said he intends to look into other programs, including “The View,” a show that has, since its first episode, been careful to include a balance of political perspectives. He may back down now that ABC has announced that Kimmel’s show will be returning to the air. We may learn more about any concessions or limits Kimmel had to accept. But we have already seen the difference freedom of speech makes as the overwhelming pushback on ABC and Disney delivered powerful messages from media, Hollywood stars, the ACLU, and, most importantly, their customers.
Charlie Kirk often spoke about the importance of an expansive embrace of free speech: “You should be allowed to say outrageous things.” He would have joined Trump enthusiasts Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro in objecting to Carr’s threats and ABC’s capitulation. Journalists and comedians are very good at revealing that the emperor has no clothes. This assault on information, comedy, journalism, and tough questions is reckless, undemocratic, and terrifying.
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