Obama Discusses Networks Decision About Kimmel
The recent collapse of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night platform has ignited a political firestorm — and surprisingly, it’s former President Barack Obama now waving the free speech flag, accusing the current administration of engaging in the very “cancel culture” he once seemed to tolerate.
In a pointed post on X, Obama denounced what he described as “government coercion,” arguing that media companies are being pressured to muzzle voices that stray from the party line. Sharing an article on Kimmel’s indefinite suspension, Obama warned of a dangerous precedent: regulatory threats aimed at silencing dissent. “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent,” he wrote, in one of his more forceful defenses of free speech in recent memory.
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. https://t.co/uts7JpJZzN
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 18, 2025
But the timing of Obama’s concern is hard to ignore. Kimmel wasn’t suspended over politics — he was suspended after pushing disinformation on a national broadcast just hours after the public assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. During his Monday night monologue, Kimmel all but blamed the conservative movement, painting Kirk’s murderer as a “MAGA” extremist. As it turns out, the alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, not only had no ties to the right, but reportedly held deeply left-leaning views and was living with a transgender partner who, according to family members, “hates conservatives and Christians.”
The backlash was swift. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr described Kimmel’s monologue as “truly sick,” and warned that ABC and its parent company Disney could face action — possibly even the loss of their broadcast license. Nexstar’s president joined the chorus, calling the remarks “offensive and insensitive” and announcing a pause in the show’s airing “until cooler heads prevail.”
Kimmel, for his part, refused to walk back his comments. There was no apology, no clarification — just silence. And that silence ultimately led Disney to shut down the show.
As if on cue, President Trump weighed in on Truth Social, mocking Kimmel’s suspension as overdue justice. “Great News for America,” Trump wrote, “The ratings-challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.” Trump called on NBC to follow suit with its other late-night hosts, labeling them “total losers.”
They’re not losing their jobs to cancel culture, they’re losing them to Consequence Culture. Consequences and accountability are something Democrats haven’t had to face in a long time. https://t.co/z9UpoKNDcb
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 17, 2025
And while the left accuses conservatives of hypocrisy, Donald Trump Jr. fired back, framing the backlash not as “cancel culture,” but as “consequence culture.”