Kimmel Suspension Under FCC Pressure Stokes US Political Divide

Democratic leaders assailed the Trump administration’s role in taking late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC show off the air, setting an early battle line as the White House signaled it’s targeting critics on the left in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.

Congressional Democratic leaders Thursday called for the resignation of Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr for “corrupt abuse of power” for his role in pressuring Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network to act against Kimmel. Former President Barack Obama joined the furor with a rare public statement on a political controversy of the moment.

“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 said in a social media post.

WATCH: The FCC is under fire for its role in the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel’s show.

Source: Bloomberg

Trump officials have publicly said they’re making plans to go after left-wing groups they say are fomenting political violence following Kirk’s assassination, stirring concern they will use the moment to squelch or weaken critics.

“Using the tragic death of Charlie Kirk as an excuse to supercharge the political witch hunt against critics is abhorrent, obnoxious, and as un-American as it gets,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said at the Capitol on Thursday.

Read more: Trump Readies Tax Audits, Criminal Probes of Liberal Groups

President Donald Trump defended ABC’s decision to take the comedian’s show off the air. Kimmel, one of the most visible Trump critics on television, “is not a talented person,” Trump said.

“Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk,” Trump said Thursday during his press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

ABC’s decision to suspend one of its biggest stars follows a series of instances in which media companies seeking favorable regulatory treatment have taken action against on-air talent that have offended the Trump administration.

In July, CBS announced it was ending its late night show hosted by Stephen Colbert, another Trump critic. The network cited costs associated with the show, although its parent Paramount Global was seeking FCC approval for its takeover by Skydance Media. The approval was later granted.

Congressional Republicans have either been silent on these matters or backed the president. On Thursday, several key GOP lawmakers said the decision to take Kimmel off the air was the media company’s decision — not the FCC’s.

Senate Republican leader John Thune said he believed it was a “commercial, economic, market decision” to remove Kimmel’s show.

Since Kirk’s killing, conservative activists also have mounted campaigns pressing employers to fire ordinary workers such as teachers and firefighters who have disparaged Kirk in social media posts.

ABC announced it was taking Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air indefinitely after Carr threatened to take action against Kimmel, ABC and Disney. The FCC grants licenses to broadcasters such as ABC and its affiliates.

Read more: Disney Pulls ‘Kimmel Live’ Over Host’s Charlie Kirk Remarks

Carr acted amid conservative backlash to remarks Kimmel made about the killing of Republican activist Charlie Kirk during his show.

“Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s war on the First Amendment is blatantly inconsistent with American values,” said House Democratic leaders, including House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, in a statement on Thursday.

Carr “has disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC,” Democrats said in their statement.

The Democratic leaders also took aim at media corporations, which critics have charged are too quick to give in to Trump administration pressure on their programming to smooth the way for mergers or favorable regulatory treatment.

“Media companies, such as the one that suspended Mr. Kimmel, have a lot to explain,” they said.

Democrats are in the minority in both the House and Senate and so they have little ability to force Carr’s resignation.

But the harsh criticism from Obama, perhaps the party’s most influential person, and congressional leaders has the potential to feed backlash against the television network among Kimmel’s fans and political progressives. They also suggested they wouldn’t let the matter drop, if they regain a congressional majority in next year’s midterms.

Kimmel was kicked off the air after he accused Republicans of using Kirk’s death to criticize their opponents.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” Kimmel said in his Sept. 15 monologue.

Carr in a post on X said he was glad “broadcasters are responding to their viewers as intended.”

In a CNBC interview Thursday, Carr also said the comedian’s on-air commentary “was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact.”

ABC’s decision came shortly after Nexstar Media Group Inc., which owns dozens of ABC TV affiliates, said it would pull the show indefinitely from its stations over the remarks. Nexstar has business pending before the FCC as it seeks approval for a $6.2 billion agreement to acquire Tegna Inc., another local station owner.

Sinclair Inc., the largest owner of ABC affiliates, also decided to remove Kimmel’s program off the air.

“Nexstar and Sinclair will likely keep their critical push for deregulation on track at the Federal Communications Commission after they promptly followed FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s prodding to stop carrying ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on their local broadcast TV stations,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Schettenhelm in a note.

Schettenhelm said it was unlikely the FCC could have found a “news distortion” violation by Disney or any of the broadcasters as Carr had threatened. “Yet by prodding Nexstar and Sinclair when the broadcasters need the FCC’s support, Carr spurred action anyway,” Schettenhelm said.

On the Hill, Democrats lambasted the stations for cowing to Carr.

“Nothing he said justifies what they did,” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “In fact, if you look at what the president says, maybe he should be silenced.”

--With assistance from Steven T. Dennis and John Harney.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Emily Birnbaum in Washington at ebirnbaum3@bloomberg.net;
Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Megan Scully at mscully32@bloomberg.net

Mike Dorning

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.