The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel has triggered exactly the kind of political theater you’d expect — only it reveals more about the priorities of America’s political and media class than about the actual issue at hand.
Kimmel was pulled off the air indefinitely after making a reckless and false claim about Charlie Kirk’s assassin, suggesting the killer was a MAGA supporter. The outrage wasn’t manufactured. It was real. Affiliates like Nexstar and Sinclair flatly refused to carry him, advertisers fled, and ABC finally lowered the boom.
Chuck Schumer foams at the mouth over Jimmy Kimmel getting suspended by ABC.
Jimmy might have a right to free speech, but he’s not free from consequences Chuck.pic.twitter.com/RWEWRxgeJM
— MRC NewsBusters (@newsbusters) September 18, 2025
But rather than deal with the substance of what Kimmel said — and the grief of a conservative leader gunned down in broad daylight — Democratic leaders and media allies immediately shifted into “free speech under attack” mode.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer compared the move to “a page right out of Xi’s playbook,” calling it “despicable” and “against democratic values.” The irony? Schumer himself once demanded Fox News fire Tucker Carlson for opinions he didn’t like. Apparently, censorship is bad when it hits a late-night liberal host, but fair game when it’s aimed at a conservative commentator.
2023: Chuck Schumer demands Tucker Carlson be taken off the air because he “slimed the truth.” pic.twitter.com/MXfn6ceVCO
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 18, 2025
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes struck the same pose, framing the suspension as part of Trump’s alleged campaign to “render the First Amendment meaningless.” Yet, not long ago, he justified Carlson’s ouster as the natural result of offensive speech. The double standard is glaring.
Even Jim Acosta jumped in, painting Kimmel as a “class act” and recalling how, back in 2018, the comedian asked about his security after Trump criticized the press. To Acosta, this one act of personal kindness apparently absolves Kimmel of spreading outright disinformation in the wake of a political assassination.
Jimmy Kimmel deserves better than this. He’s a class act. Case in point – after my first appearance on his show back in 2018, he very thoughtfully asked whether I was receiving adequate security at that time, as Trump was repeatedly smearing journalists as “the enemy of the… pic.twitter.com/s44423s3H6
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 18, 2025
Meanwhile, legislation is already being floated to “block Trump from suppressing free speech,” despite the inconvenient fact that ABC — not the federal government — made the call to suspend Kimmel. It was a business decision. Nothing more.
As commentator Stephen L. Miller put it bluntly: “The national media being more upset at Jimmy Kimmel losing his show than they are Charlie Kirk losing his life is kind of proving the point.”
The national media being more upset at Jimmy Kimmel losing his show than they are Charlie Kirk losing his life is kind of proving the point.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 18, 2025
