Jimmy Kimmel pulled off the air: Yesterday evening, ABC News (a subsidiary of Disney) announced it was suspending comedian Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show "indefinitely" following factually inaccurate comments he made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Of course, comedians have no obligation to be factually correct. Kimmel's show is intended as a hybrid between comedy and news, though, so it's fair to wonder whether he does. "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," said Kimmel during his Monday night monologue. "In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving." A montage of President Donald Trump followed, making fun of how, though people have claimed Kirk was like a son to the president, he's moved on rather quickly.
It wasn't especially good or funny. It also was somewhat anodyne. To overly psychologize for a moment, I wonder whether Trump pivoted to talking about construction at the White House when reporters asked him about Kirk's death because he is, in fact, distraught about it but didn't feel up to going there. We can't know. Kimmel's shot felt cheap. But Kimmel is allowed to be bad—he's been bad for a while.
The issue is that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr suggested the agency might punish ABC, pulling its broadcast license in retribution. On conservative Benny Johnson's podcast, Carr suggested Kimmel's comments were part of a "concerted effort to lie to the American people," and that the FCC was "going to have remedies that we can look at."
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," said Carr, ominously. "These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the F.C.C. ahead."
"Just before ABC's announcement, Nexstar Media Group said that its stations that are affiliated with ABC would pre-empt Kimmel's show 'for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight's show,'" reports CNBC. Nexstar, which owns 10 percent of ABC's affiliate stations, is in the process of securing FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, which owns roughly 5 percent of the affiliate stations.
"Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED," wrote the president on Truth Social. "Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!"
Courage sure is an interesting word choice, given that Trump's own agency threatened them with consequences (though he's not wrong if we're solely judging him as a media critic).
"I don't think this is a legal issue," said former federal prosecutor Joseph Moreno on CNN. "I don't think this can be pointed to the FCC or the Trump administration and say, well, this is about them going after Kimmel because of what he said. Personally, I think it's more of a cultural issue. And I got to tell you. I'm about as moderate a Republican as you can get. I'm from New York. I have not been comfortable watching late-night television for 15 years because when you have conservative leanings and you're constantly mocked and you're constantly feel like you're doing something wrong, you shut it off. You don't watch it anymore."
Some people have made the point that the FCC might have given Disney/ABC cover to do something they already wanted to do, and do it in a way that makes the Trump administration look like the bad guys:
I also think this point is very fair, which is that this didn't start yesterday. If you haven't noticed the extraordinary media jawboning—indirect censorial pressure directed at private companies from the federal government—over the last few years, you haven't been paying much attention:
"The government pressured ABC—and ABC caved," wrote Ari Cohn of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. "The timing of ABC's decision, on the heels of the FCC chairman's pledge to the network to 'do this the easy way or the hard way,' tells the whole story. Another media outlet withered under government pressure, ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution on broadcasters and publishers who criticize it. We cannot be a country where late night talk show hosts serve at the pleasure of the president. But until institutions grow a backbone and learn to resist government pressure, that is the country we are."
Cohn makes a good point, both that this is the direct result of government coercion that is wrong and disturbing, and that these institutions should not be in the business of caving. It's disturbing to see massive law firms, media outlets, and organizations that should have some amount of fuck-you money choose the path of cowardice. But given that Disney has been interested in fighting the government before (albeit in a different context), the fact that they weren't willing to do so this time makes me think maybe Kimmel was already a goner...
Libertarian commentator Yaron Brook has some great observations about free speech and Attorney General Pam Bondi:
"Pam Bondi's Horrible Take on Charlie Kirk and Free Speech Sparks Huge Backlash"
We already have 3 posts about the attacks on free speech in America this week. Mine will be the 4th... but that's only 4 posts out of 5 days. So what are you complaining about?
"I'm just getting to Chris Cillizza's point here that free speech is not just for people who agree with you or me, as well as ourselves. It protects everybody, including people and speech that we think are personally disgusting and hateful.
And for the Attorney General of the United States (Pam Bomdi) to say that people who speak out against someone she supported (Charlie Kirk) is not covered by free speech... then we have an Attorney General who doesn't even understand the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Which is very dangerous, considering all the power that she has.
1 thing for a MAGA member on social media to not know what free speech is... we can tolerate that in our liberal democracy. But when someone with the power to prosecute people and put them in prison... have them arrested, then it becomes dangerous."
From The New Democrat
"I'm not 1 to who argues that America is a free market completely, when it comes to our economy or anything else, including our ideas. But our liberal democratic system gives us a free market to express what we feel about others and the country as a whole... any topic that we want to express ourselves on. Our market is feee to the point that the ignorant and hateful have as much right to express themselves, as the enlightened and educated... anything that they want to talk about.
But since we do have a free market of ideas in America, we not only have a right to express ourselves, but others have the right to express (even in a hateful and ignorant way, as well as intelligent way) what they think about what we think and what we say. That's what's known as an exchange of ideas and open debate...
From The New Democrat
"But as Erik and Rik have already mentioned this week, we believe liberal democracy and free speech is for everyone, not just people who agree with us. As the great Conservative Ronald Wilson Reagan said:
"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20 percent traitor".
To make a partisan statement: I'm willing to bet anything that Donald J. Trump completely disagrees with President Reagan on this.
The point we're making here at The New Democrat, is American liberal democracy is big enough for the Charlie Kirk's, the Pat Buchanan's, the Phyllis Schlafly's,.. even people as verbally disgusting as David Duke and Don Trump. As well as "The Squad" and their far-leftist allies.
The main reason why the Communist Party is even allowed to exist in America, is because we have the First Amendment (that they don't believe in) and their ideology is so unpopular, that they would never even have any real power in this country, anyway.
The reason why the far-right is able to exist, is agains because of the First Amendment. But their ideas are so bad an unpopular and even though they're in power now in America, at least the executive level, we still have checks and balances that can contain them. And they peacefully won the election last year.
So America has never been a majoritarian democracy. As much as President Trump may want to rewrite the First Amendment, perhaps even erase it through executive order, our checks and balances won't allow him to do that. We're not a majoritarian democracy, we're not a social democracy. But America is a liberal democracy and 1 of our liberal values is free speech for everyone. Not just for the educated and the enlightened (to paraphrase Rik Schneider from yesterday) but for everyone that calls America home."
From The New Democrat
On Tuesday, Erik told you that The New Democrat will have a series of 3 posts about free speech in America in relation to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Yeah... Erik lied, because this is the 4th. Actually, when you write in the Blogosphere, news changes so fast and sometimes you have change your plans to try to keep up with it, which is the real reason why this is the 4th 1 because of ABC firing heir late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, because President Trump doesn't like him.
So, no one at The New Democrat is a lawyer, but what I'm going to give you a circumstantial case for why and how the Trump Administration used government pressure on ABC, to fire Jimmy Kimmel. And then I'll respond to what both Liz Wolfe said, as well as Yaron Brook.
So on Monday night, ABC late night talk show host said this about Charlie Kirk and MAGA:
"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."
On Wednesday - Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, publicly criticized ABC for Kimmel's remarks, threatening regulatory action.
That same day - The suspension followed decisions by major station owners like Sinclair and Nexstar to preempt the show on their local ABC affiliates.
On Thursday - aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters that networks giving him bad press "maybe" deserve to have their licenses taken away.
Trump also stated that it would be "up to Brendan Carr" to make such a decision, calling the FCC chairman "outstanding" and a "patriot".
This information courtesy of Google
As my other colleague Fred Schneider wrote on Threads last night:
"Does MAGA really want a left-wing Democratic administration to have the same power over speech that they don't like, that the Trump Administration is trying to use right now? Of course not. But that's what they're going to get, if they keep trying to cancel people simply because they don't like their speech."
From Fred Schneider
This is the Liz Wolfe comment that I want you to focus on... but not like a lazar. Because that cliche is so old that's it's now the great grandparent of, "it is what it is". But this is what she said:
"Of course, comedians have no obligation to be factually correct. Kimmel's show is intended as a hybrid between comedy and news, though, so it's fair to wonder whether he does. "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," said Kimmel during his Monday night monologue. "In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving." A montage of President Donald Trump followed, making fun of how, though people have claimed Kirk was like a son to the president, he's moved on rather quickly.
It wasn't especially good or funny. It also was somewhat anodyne. To overly psychologize for a moment, I wonder whether Trump pivoted to talking about construction at the White House when reporters asked him about Kirk's death because he is, in fact, distraught about it but didn't feel up to going there. We can't know. Kimmel's shot felt cheap. But Kimmel is allowed to be bad—he's been bad for a while..
So, "comedians have no obligation to be factually correct". Now, similar to tabloid publications, tabloid shows, they can't just openly defame and lie about people, especially for profit on air. You could say Jimmy Kimmel's comment:
"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."
was in bad taste and I would agree with that. You could also argue that the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) controls on air licenses in America. I might disagree with that, but even if that's right, as Fred Schneider said:
"Does MAGA really want a left-wing Democratic administration to have the same power over speech that they don't like, that the Trump Administration is trying to use right now? Of course not. But that's what they're going to get, if they keep trying to cancel people simply because they don't like their speech."
I mean assuming we survive the Trump Administration (perhaps I should start praying for that everyday) and the next President (hopefully starting in January, 2029) is a pro-Constitution, pro-rule of law... pro-law & order, (if you will President) does MAGA really want a Democratic administration, going after the Greg Gutfeld's, the Sean Hannity's, the Jesse Watters, the Laura Ingraham's? Because they all have bad habits of flat-out lying, or not even knowing what they're even talking about, when they do their commentaries (advertised as news) every night to their audiences.
I would bet anything that 4 years from now, if there is a Democratic administration at that point, MAGA and company will start pretending to be "champions of free speech again", if a Democratic led FCC starts targeting their commentators.
And Attorney General Pam Bondi's on going after hate speech:
"There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech," Bondi said in an interview with "The Katie Miller Podcast" that aired Monday, appearing to shrug off First Amendment concerns.
We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech, anything — and that’s across the aisle.
You can’t have that hate speech in the world in which we live. There is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society...
Yaron Brook responded to the Attorney General's comments with:
"Now, will somebody tell me what's the differences between this and the WOKE Left? Somebody tell me what's the difference between this and what the Left (I would argue far-left) about hate speech? Hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment... since when? That's why the First Amendment is there, to protect hate speech...
To answer Yaron Brook's question: the only difference between the far-left and far-right in America when it comes to hate speech and political correctness, is the same difference between coffee house hipsters when it comes to their coffee: they all drink coffee, but they don't all drink the same coffee drink. Someone like espresso, some like lattes, etc.
When it comes to political correctness when it comes to the far's in American politics, you can say whatever you want, just as long as you are on your team and they agree with you. But when the other side says something ":hateful", then they label that hate speech and not protected by the First Amendment.
And just 1 more thing about Jimmy Kimmel and I'll finally end this: (and go check to see if it's still Friday or not, or if it's Saturday morning with the sun coming up) if you are a Gen-Xer like myself, you are old enough to remember when "Republicans" at least claimed to be in favor of the "free market" and free speech. They don't pretend anymore. They now control all the levers of the government, except for the courts. And when you say or do something that they don't like, the Constitution doesn't exist in their world. And they'll come after you with as much force as they can get away with.
In a true free market and liberal democracy, (which is America is struggling to hold onto everyday during the Trump Administration) the Jimmy Kimmel's, the Greg Gutfeld's, the Seth Meyers, the Sean Hannity's, the Jesse Watters's, the Laura Ingraham's, the SNL's, would have the freedom to communicate and express whatever they think on current events, as much as they want... short of defamation, libel and incitement. And their audiences (what's known as the free market) would get to decide how good or bad they are and whether they should stay on the air or not. But that's not the world we live in right now.
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