All these things can be true at the same time about ABC’s pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
First, Kimmel is a dishonest hack who used his show to spread self-indulgent partisan dreck. Private companies, as Leftists pointed out only a few years ago, have the option of “deplatforming” anyone they please. Kimmel has no God-given right to be on television. Syndicates like Nexstar and Sinclair, with significant conservative audiences, had a fiduciary responsibility to drop a show that offended large swaths of their viewers. The other night, Kimmel didn’t merely mock MAGA or criticize Charlie Kirk; he blatantly lied about the ideology of the shooter to his audience. And not only did he intentionally mislead them, he blamed the victims. It was an indecent thing to do. Kimmel, who had plenty of time to apologize, will likely fall back on the fact that he is allegedly a comedian. That doesn’t hold water anymore.
Second, Kimmel is proof that, in many respects, the right is winning the culture war. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr injected himself into the incident by pressuring syndicators, which only undermines the cause. The government isn’t here to make programming decisions for Americans. If every lie told on broadcast television now constitutes a “hoax,” and thus becomes a regulatory matter, as some conservatives are now arguing, we could see a massive expansion of state involvement. If the administration precipitated the decision, which Carr insinuated on Benny Johnson’s podcast, it is a clear attack on free expression. It’s reminiscent of Joe Biden threatening Facebook to get them to ban vax skeptics. Not long ago, JD Vance noted that the previous administration had “encouraged private companies to silence people … Under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square.” Doubtful. But, at least, don’t engage in the same behavior as Democrats.
Third, Carr might gloat over Kimmel being pulled, but it’s unlikely that the administration played a major role in that decision. Which makes his comments even more harmful. ABC is probably losing tons of money on an antiquated talk show model helmed by an insufferable mediocrity, and so it jumped at the chance to potentially pull the plug when two major syndicators dropped the show. Stephen Colbert was reportedly hemorrhaging around $40 million yearly, and he had higher ratings. It’s not far-fetched to imagine that Kimmel, with his $16 million yearly salary, was losing a business proposition. These celebrity gab fests have become prohibitively expensive to produce at this point. Podcasts can be produced for a fraction of the cost and pull bigger audiences. Add to the fact that Colbert and Kimmel transformed their traditional late-night venues into partisan pep rallies wherein half the nation’s audience is demeaned and mocked, and the prospects of the ratings improving are low.
Fourth, Trump administration officials have an incessant, destructive need to be the center of attention all the time. We saw this last week when White House press secretary Pam Bondi, who’s apparently been reading too many “post-liberal” right-wing influencers, promised that the administration was going to prosecute “hate speech” crimes and force private companies to cater to the right-wing consumers. Both these positions threatened to undermine long-standing policy battles fought by conservatives over speech and free association. Then there is FBI director Kash Patel, who felt the need to preen on social media about the manhunt of Kirk’s assassin with blow-by-blow updates rather than ensuring he had the right person in custody. They’re not helping.
THE MARTYRDOM OF KAMALA HARRIS
Fifth, Democrats have zero credibility on free speech grounds. They have spent years championing the deplatforming, demonetizing, and chilling speech. No Hollywood celebrity spoke up when Roseanne was canceled. No celebrity ever speaks up for any conservative. The Biden administration did much of its censorship behind the scenes. But I can’t recall a single elected Democrat complaining about that, either. The left, indeed, seems more upset about Kimmel than the assassination of Kirk.
The threat, though, is that soon no one will have any credibility on free speech.