Jimmy Kimmel was choked by feelings coming back from the suspension to the late-night show, but critics said he was crying “crocodile tears” and did not apologise for his comments about Charlie Kirk.
President Trump responds to Jimmy Kimmel’s return to air
Jimmy Kimmel’s return to broadcast television sparked mixed reactions from fans, Charlie Kirk supporters and politicians.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has called Jimmy Kimmel’s recent return to television back on social media to “trash.”
Another TV host Piers Morgan said Kimmel was crying “crocodile tears” after ABC stopped him for comments about the assassination of conversion activist Charlie Kirk. Podcaster Megin Kelly, who lost the NBC show after comments about the “Blackface” Halloween costume, rejected Kimmel’s “self-sympathy.” And during Trump’s first term, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Kimmel had not apologized for his comments on Kirk.
A negative response to Kimmel’s return suggests that the fallout from the 57-year-old late-night host’s remarks is over.
Disney, the parent company of the ABC Network, which airs the show, stopped production of Kimmel on September 17, two days after Trump supporters said they eager to make Kirk’s assassin a character “as something other than them” and denounced him “to score political points” from the murder.
On September 23rd, Kimmel returned to the air. “It was never my intention to underestimate the murder of a young man,” the comedian said, his voice choking with emotion. “I don’t think there’s anything interesting.”
Two companies representing the group of ABC affiliate stations at Sinclair and NextStar have kept Kimmel away from the air. NextStar issued a statement on September 23rd, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Although available on Disney streaming products, “our station will focus on continuing to create local news and other programming.”
Jimmy Kimmel defends freedom of speech for an emotional return
Jimmy Kimmel submitted a powerful monologue, defending freedom of speech and clarifying his controversial joke after Charlie Kirk’s death.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Kerr threatened an investigation on the day Kimmel’s suspension, urging television stations to either drop Kimmel’s show or face potential fines and revoking their broadcast license.
“We can do this in an easy or difficult way,” Kerr said.
After Democrat California Sen. Scott Wiener posted that he couldn’t wait for Sinclair to break up, Kerr said in a social media post on September 23 that it was proof that Democrats wanted to silence their objections.
“These companies decided that in their view the suspension made sense,” Kerr said. “This is especially the first time that local TV stations have pushed back national programmers like Disney recently, which is good because they want to empower local TV stations.”
Former Democrat Senator, Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told MSNBC on September 24 that he saw Trump’s move to silence his critics as “dangerous.”
“It’s just a short time from an authoritarian playbook,” Clinton said.
However, Fox News host Greg Gutfeld said Kimmel is tired of acting “as if he was fired was the same as being fired.” He called media censorship “mutually preserved destruction” after Facebook and Twitter removed conservative voices like Trump during the Biden administration.
“You hunted Republicans, you hunted conservatives,” Gutfeld said. “Maybe if we hunt you, you won’t hunt us anymore.”
Trump proposed a new strategy. He said that ABC paid $15 million to the Presidential Foundation and settled a lawsuit over what George Stephanopulos did about civil lawsuit columnist E. Jean Carroll had brought against Trump.
Trump complains that 97% of late-night shows jokes are against him. He suggested on September 23 that it could be “a further advantage” to investigate television networks to essentially provide illegal campaign contributions to the Democratic National Committee through broadcasts.
“Why do they want people who are so poor, not funny, and putting their network at risk by playing 99% positive Democrat trash,” Trump told social media. “He’s another DNC arm and, as far as I know, it will be a major illegal campaign contribution. I think he’s going to test ABC for this.”
