When announcing that it would pull Jimmy Kimmel’s programme, the TV station operator Nexstar Media Group called comments the comedian had made about the far-right activist Charlie Kirk’s death “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”.
Supporters of Donald Trump have praised the decision, and the White House deputy chief of staff called it an example of “consequence culture”. However, anti-Trump politicians as well as media figures and free speech organisations have warned it is part of an effort to systematically silence Trump’s critics.
But what did Kimmel actually say to raise the ire of the Maga (“Make America great again”) movement?
Maga was attempting to score political points from the killing
During one of his evening monologues – which was released before Utah prosecutors released more information about the alleged killer, Tyler Robinson – Kimmel suggested Trump’s political movement, Maga, wanted to exploit the situation.
“The Maga gang [is] 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,” he said.
It was not clear if Kimmel was suggesting Robinson was a literal supporter of Maga, or that his alleged political violence was part of a broader shift towards bloodshed and force in US politics, particularly among the far right.
Still, this comment appears to have deeply angered Trump supporters and officials.
Robinson’s motive has not been confirmed, although the top prosecutor in Utah county, where Kirk was fatally shot on 10 September, said the suspect – whose family was known to be conservative – “had become more political and had started to lean more to the left, becoming more pro-gay and trans rights oriented”.
In an interview on Wednesday, the Trump-appointed head of the US media regulator, the Federal Communications Commission of the United States (FCC), said Kimmel had made a “concerted effort to try to lie to the American people”.
Brendan Carr went on to call Kimmel’s comments an attempt to “play into a narrative that this was somehow a Maga or Republican-motivated person”.
Trump was acting like a four-year-old
Kimmel has also mocked Trump for a specific comment he made in response to being asked by a reporter how he was personally “holding up” after the assassination of Kirk, who he has said was a friend.
Trump had replied saying he was “very good” and then immediately started boasting about the new ballroom he is building at the White House.
Kimmel said after the clip: “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Trump is either a dictator or ‘just a dick’
Kimmel referenced an incident in which an Australian journalist was berated by Trump after he asked the US president this week how much wealthier he had become since returning to the Oval Office.
Trump accused the reporter, John Lyons, who is reporting for Four Corners, of “hurting Australia” with the line of questioning, and said that he would raise the issue with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese.
Kimmel showed the clip of the exchange and mocked Trump for being a “little tattletale”.
He added: “[Trump] needs to make a decision, do you want to be a dictator or just a dick?”
