·Barack ObamaPresident Obama accuses the Trump administration of ‘government coercion’ after ABC takes Jimmy Kimmel off the airBy Marco Quiroz-GutierrezBy Marco Quiroz-GutierrezReporterMarco Quiroz-GutierrezReporterRole: ReporterMarco Quiroz-Gutierrez is a reporter for Fortune covering general news.SEE FULL BIO US President Barack Obama speaks with television host Jimmy Kimmel in 2016..Nicholas Kamm—AFP via Getty ImagesFormer U.S.
president Barack Obama laid into the Trump administration Thursday ing ABC’s decision to “indefinitely” suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show.
The 64-year-old former head of state said suspending Kimmel over his s slain political ator Charlie Kirk amounted to “government coercion,” accusing the Trump administration of playing fast and loose with the First Amendment, which tects the right to free speech in America.
“After years of complaining 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 ators it doesn’t ,” Obama wrote in a post on X.
Obama’s reference to regulatory action ly refers to s made by Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who said earlier this week that his agency, which issues licenses for broadcasting over public airwaves, would look into “remedies” to address Kimmel’s s if companies didn’t take action.
“These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the F.C.C.
ahead,” Carr said Wednesday on a podcast by right-wing media personality Benny Johnson.
Dozens of channels from local ABC stations belonging to station owner Sinclair will air a remembrance honoring Kirk in the time slot formerly occupied by Jimmy Kimmel !.
Sinclair has called for the late-night host to apologize and make a donation to the right-wing organization Kirk founded, Turning Point USA.
In his X post, Obama added that “media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to” the Trump administration.
The White House and ABC did not immediately respond to Fortune’s requests for .
Obama, who has kept a relatively low file since leaving office, has spoken up more recently political issues and Trump’s actions since the former real-estate tycoon retook office in January.
During an event hosted by the Jefferson Education Society in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Obama also criticized the Trump administration’s deployment of the national guard in Washington D.C.
and President Donald Trump’s rejection of presidential norms, according to the LA Times.
Other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), have also spoken out against Kimmel’s suspension.
On Thursday, he and a group of Congressional Democratic leaders issued a joint statement condemning FCC chairman Carr for his alleged “corrupt abuse of power.” President Trump, meanwhile, praised ABC’s actions and incorrectly stated Kimmel’s show had been canceled in a Truth Social post Wednesday.
Trump added that there were only two late-night hosts left in his view, both operating on NBC: Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. “Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!” Trump wrote in the post.
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