Here’s what Obama had to say about Donald Trump and Jimmy Kimmel
Former President Barack Obama is accusing the Trump administration of using federal threats to pressure the media following ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
On Wednesday, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live was being pulled from the air indefinitely after the titular host made comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
In his opening monologue, Kimmel said that "the MAGA gang" was trying to characterize Kirk's shooter as someone who is not right-wing so they can "score political points from it."
These comments eventually led to ABC suspending the show, just hours after Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr discussed the FCC taking action against ABC during a guest appearance on "The Benny Johnson Show."
In the wake of Kimmel's show suspension, Obama criticized the Trump administration on Thursday for using federal actions to strong arm media companies to get rid of people they don't like.
"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," Obama wrote on X . "This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it."
Other Democratic politicians have blasted the decision to suspend Kimmel's show, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom calling it "corrupt, despicable, & spineless behavior," according to the San Francisco Chronicle .
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Carr a bully in a statement on Thursday , demanding that he resign.
Trump, meanwhile, lauded the suspension of Kimmel's show on Truth Social on Wednesday night and demanded NBC cancel "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "Late Night with Seth Meyers."
"Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," his post reads. "Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible."
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