The Kimmel Meltdown: The Left’s Selective Outrage Exposes Their Free Speech Hypocrisy
The Daily Signal 9/18/2025 7:00:00 AM
 

Liberal media pundits and Democrat politicians are reacting apoplectically after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel “indefinitely” for making a sick joke about Charlie Kirk’s assassin.

They’re warning the First Amendment is under assault, Americans are losing their free speech, and the free press all but gone.

Don’t believe any of it.

The same people who didn’t lift a finger to defend free speech and a free press during the Biden administration are letting Trump Derangement Syndrome shape their thinking.

Let’s review what happened.

News broke Wednesday night that ABC pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live” because local affiliates were aghast at Kimmel’s behavior and no longer wanted to carry his late-night “comedy” show. Nexstar and Sinclair, which own and operate ABC affiliates across America, announced they would preempt Kimmel’s broadcast with other programming.

Earlier in the day, Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr, whose job is to regulate the broadcast industry, reminded Americans that companies like ABC have a responsibility to serve the public interest.

Kimmel crossed that line during his Monday night monologue, misleading his viewers by suggesting that Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA conservative.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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 then proceeded to play a video mocking President Donald Trump and suggesting that he wasn’t grieving over Kirk’s death.

It was too much for Nexstar and Sinclair. Both companies moved swiftly to condemn Kimmel’s vile and disgusting comments. They reacted to market pressure, not government coercion.

Yet rather than blame Kimmel for sealing his own fate, some of the Left’s finest commentators instead reacted in anger at the Trump administration. I picked five of my favorites.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.: “It’s happening. The takedown of Jimmy Kimmel is likely the start of a campaign to use the murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to use the power of the White House to wipe out Trump’s critics and his political opponents.”

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes: “This is the most straightforward attack on free speech from state actors I’ve ever seen in my life and it’s not even close.”

CNN’s Brian Stelter: “America is a less free place if late-night comedians cannot do and say what they want. Of course, they can be tuned out. People can change the channel. That’s how we vote. That’s how we have our say in America. But this really does have a chilling effect across the American media.”

The Nation’s Jeet Heer: “This is the biggest attack on free speech since the McCarthy era but it also has significantly less popular consensus behind it than the second Red Scare. It’s being done on behalf of a minority faction led by the most unpopular president in modern history. Organizing against this can win.”

CNN’s Van Jones: “This is a red line that has been crossed for our industry, for the First Amendment, for the right of people to speak. There was nothing hateful about what was said.”

Where were people like Murphy, Hayes, and Stelter when President Joe Biden’s White House revoked the press credentials of 442 reporters in 2023? Or how about when Biden’s administration bankrolled nonprofit censorship groups, which then targeted The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway and Sean Davis?

During the Biden era, the FBI was caught targeting traditional Catholics, pro-life grandmothers, and parents who attended school board meetings. Where were these self-appointed free speech champions to defend them?

Just as we’ve previously heard cries of self-censorship, complaints of a “fascist takeover,” and comparisons to “Kremlin suppression,” you can expect more of the same over Kimmel.

The collapse of their credibility is astonishing. Vast numbers of Americans no longer trust them—and for good reason.

As a result, we’re witnessing a massive disruption in the media landscape.

It’s a beautiful thing to watch, and a hopeful sign that after years of playing defense, we’re now on offense—and winning.

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