U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that certain television networks should face license revocation, as he voiced support for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) amidst the controversy surrounding the suspension of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.
The Disney-owned network announced Wednesday evening that it was suspending the comedian “indefinitely” following backlash over remarks he made regarding the murder of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk last week.
Kimmel had suggested on Monday that the suspect was a MAGA Republican, despite authorities in Utah stating that the alleged gunman was “indoctrinated with leftist ideology.”
ABC’s decision to suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” came after the FCC reportedly threatened action over his comments.
President Trump addressed the matter to reporters on Thursday aboard Air Force One, as he returned from a state visit to the United Kingdom.
“I have read someplace that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily, all seven swing states [in last year’s election],” the president stated.
“They give me only bad publicity, press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”
During his monologue on Monday, Kimmel, 57, stated that the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and attempting to “score political points from it.”
He also compared Trump’s reaction to the death of his 31-year-old political confidant to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Following the shooting, Kimmel expressed condemnation and sent “love” to the Kirk family via Instagram.
Speaking to Fox on Thursday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr indicated that Kimmel’s suspension was not “the last shoe to drop.”
“We’re going to continue to hold these broadcasters accountable to the public interest,” he asserted.
“And if broadcasters don’t like that simple solution, they can turn their license in to the FCC.”
The FCC possesses regulatory authority over licensed, local broadcast stations, which are often affiliates of major networks like ABC, and can impose penalties for significant regulatory breaches.
However, the agency’s authority is limited over cable channels, such as Fox or MSNBC, and it has no authority over podcasts or most streaming content.
Legal scholars suggest that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects free speech, would prevent the FCC from lawfully revoking licenses based on political disagreement.
Joe Strazullo, a late-night writer who worked on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from 2015-21, told the BBC in Los Angeles that there was an atmosphere of fear in the writers’ room.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the threat of them being out of work,” he said. “I’ve touched base and nobody knows exactly what’s going on still and they’re working things out behind the scenes.”
Kimmel’s suspension was announced shortly after Nexstar Media, one of the largest owners of TV stations in the U.S., stated it would not air his show “for the foreseeable future.”
Nexstar deemed his remarks about Kirk “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”
Carr praised Nexstar, which is currently seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, and expressed hope that other broadcasters would follow suit.
Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the U.S., announced it would air a special remembrance program dedicated to Kirk during the original time slot for Kimmel’s show on Friday.
Kirk, a prominent conservative activist and father of two, died from a single gunshot wound to the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem on September 10.
His widow, Erika Kirk, was named on Thursday as the new head of the organization her husband co-founded, Turning Point USA.
A 22-year-old man was charged on Tuesday with aggravated murder, and prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
Writers, actors, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and other prominent Democrats have condemned Kimmel’s suspension.
Obama suggested the incident represented a new and dangerous level of cancel culture.
“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” he posted on X.
Actor Ben Stiller said it “isn’t right,” while “Hacks” star Jean Smart said she was “horrified at the cancellation.”
“What Jimmy said was free speech, not hate speech,” she added.
The Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild, two Hollywood labor unions, condemned the decision as a violation of constitutional free speech rights.
However, others argued Kimmel’s suspension was accountability, not cancel culture.
“When a person says something that a ton of people find offensive, rude, dumb in real time and then that person is punished for it that’s not cancel culture,” said Dave Portnoy, who founded media company Barstool Sports.
“That is consequences for your actions.”
Late-night Fox host Greg Gutfeld argued that Kimmel had “deliberately and misleadingly” blamed the killing of Kirk on the activist’s “allies and friends.”
British presenter Piers Morgan said Kimmel had “lied about Charlie Kirk’s assassin being Maga,” and his comments caused “understandable outrage all over America.”
“Why is he being heralded as some kind of free speech martyr?” he added.
But one of Carr’s FCC leadership colleagues, commissioner Anna Gomez, criticized the regulator’s stance on Kimmel.
She said that “an inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship or control.”
BBC News used AI to help write the summary at the top of this article. It was edited by BBC journalists. Find out more.
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