Barack Obama, Jasmine Crockett, others call out Trump administration after Jimmy Kimmel suspension

“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level,” said former President Obama, who joined Democrats in condemning the White House.

Political leaders are calling out the Trump administration and accusing it of suppressing fundamental First Amendment rights following the suspension of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after conservative pushback over comments the comedian made about the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.

“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,” wrote former President Barack Obama, who has been quite vocal against actions taken by the Trump White House to suppress free speech.

Kimmel, whose late-night show has been on air for 22 years, was suspended after political pressure from Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC is notably responsible for licensing ABC’s local stations.

Critics have suggested that media conglomerates that own several ABC affiliates gave in to pressure because of pending merger deals that the Trump administration must approve. For example, Nexstar Media Group, which owns 28 ABC affiliates, seeks to acquire Tegna for $6.2 billion, making Nexstar the largest owner of local TV stations in the country.

President Obama warned that the trend of media companies giving in to such political pressure is a symptom of a larger, brewing crisis in America.

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it,” Obama wrote on X.

The former president also shared an article from The New York Times about the recent firing of Karen Attiah, a Black opinion columnist for The Washington Post. Attiah shared that she was terminated over social media posts she wrote in the aftermath of Kirk’s death about gun violence and “racial double standards.”

The Times reports that in one post, Attiah criticized inaction from “white America,” which she said “is not going to do what it needs to do to get rid of guns in their country.”

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, also decried the political blowback on Kimmel, writing on X, “Kimmel hurts MAGA’s feelings by holding a mirror up & so the first amendment is out the window and his show is pulled.” The always outspoken congresswoman condemned the action as “anti-democratic” and “Not patriotic at all.”

Crockett rhetorically asked if conservatives would also express concern about Fox News host Brian Kilmeade’s recent comment that homeless people should be given “involuntary lethal injection.” She also called attention to the subsequent deaths and injuries of unhoused individuals after the targeting of a homeless encampment in Minnesota, as well as the suspicious hanging death of Trey Reed at Delta State University on Monday.

“NO OUTRAGE, let alone coverage, because you only value certain lives & certain speech,” said Crockett.

In response to Kimmel’s indefinite suspension, House Democrats, led by Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, called FCC Chairman Carr to resign “immediately” for engaging in “the corrupt abuse of power.”

“He has disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee to the Trump administration,” said Jeffries in a joint statement with Democratic leadership.

“Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s war on the First Amendment is blatantly inconsistent with American values. Media companies, such as the one that suspended Mr. Kimmel, have a lot to explain,” said House Democrats. “The censoring of artists and cancellation of shows is an act of cowardice. It may also be part of a corrupt pay-to-play scheme.”

As Democrats prepare for the 2026 midterm elections, they promised to ensure that Americans “learn the truth” about the events that led up to Kimmel’s firing and other actions taken by media companies. They added, “Even if that requires the relentless unleashing of congressional subpoena power. This will not be forgotten.”