It has come to this: The president of the United States is leading the strangulation of free speech.
And many institutions continue to fall in line.
Donald Trump celebrated the spineless move by ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show after the comedian referenced the politicization of the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
“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,” the host said.
Kimmel’s attempt to tie Kirk’s alleged killer to Trump’s base may have missed the mark, since the politics and motivation of the suspect remain unclear. But the more stinging jab came when the popular comedian poked fun at Trump’s seeming indifference to Kirk’s death after a reporter asked how he was holding up after the loss of his friend.
“I think very good,” Trump replied, before immediately shifting gears to boast about the $200 million ballroom he is building at the White House.
Kimmel joked, “He’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” adding: “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”
Late-night comedians from Johnny Carson to David Letterman have long skewered presidents regardless of their party affiliation. Past presidents made memorable appearances on comedy shows.
But Trump can’t take a joke. Even worse, he and his supporters want to punish any free speech they don’t agree with.
Trump’s effort to stamp out criticism and dissent is straight out of the authoritarian playbook. It goes beyond the media to his attacks on judges, law firms, universities, the arts and immigrants.
Trump has repeatedly waged war on the truth — from crowd size at his first inauguration to dismissing climate change to rejecting unfavorable jobs reports. Now, he and his loyalists are taking direct aim at the First Amendment, the cornerstone of personal freedom and individual liberty that sets the United States apart from other countries.
Kimmel’s ouster occurred hours after Brendan Carr, Trump’s handpicked head of the Federal Communications Commission, leveled threatening comments in response to Kimmel’s monologue during an appearance on a right-wing podcast.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” said Carr, who wrote the FCC chapter in Project 2025. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
During the podcast, Carr urged local ABC stations to “push back” and preempt coverage that does not serve “their local communities.”
Nexstar Media Group, which owns nearly three dozen ABC affiliate stations, quickly said it would preempt Kimmel’s program “for the foreseeable future.” Nexstar happens to be seeking FCC approval on a $6.2 billion deal to buy a rival company.
Sinclair, the country’s largest owner of TV stations (including some in Central Washington) and a promoter of right-wing disinformation, said it would also suspend Kimmel’s show.
ABC, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co., followed the knuckling under by pulling Kimmel’s show off the air indefinitely.
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The attack on Kimmel is part of a broader effort by Trump and his apparatchiks to squelch any criticism or negative coverage of the president.
Trump’s targets range from big and small to petty and personal. He sued the Des Moines Register for a poll that showed Kamala Harris ahead in Iowa days before he won reelection.
Trump also sued iconic journalist Bob Woodward over an audiobook of taped interviews. That case was dismissed, but Trump previously told Lesley Stahl of CBS’s “60 Minutes” why he attacks the press.
“I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you,” Stahl said Trump told her in 2016.
Last Monday, Trump sued the New York Times for articles published last year that he claimed defamed him and damaged his reputation as a successful business owner. (Never mind the six bankruptcies.)
Legal experts called the suit frivolous, and indeed, a Florida federal judge tossed the suit almost immediately.
The Times said that it “will not be deterred by intimidation tactics. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.”
Sadly, many other media companies have failed to take a stand for either. Instead, many CEOs have responded to Trump’s pressure campaign by putting profits above principles.
In July, CBS canceled Stephen Colbert’s top-rated late-night show. At the time, Paramount, which owned CBS, needed the FCC to approve its $8 billion sale to Skydance. That same month, Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump that many experts considered baseless.
In December, ABC agreed to pay $15 million to settle what legal experts said was a weak defamation suit brought by Trump.
Last year, scores of newspapers — including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times — killed or withheld presidential endorsements before the election for fear of the retribution Trump promised if he won.
The Post, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, dismantled its opinion section as many top journalists left.
Major tech firms, including Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and OpenAI, donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and quickly cozied up to the president.
The founders, having lived under a repressive king, understood the First Amendment would protect citizens from an authoritarian government.
Benjamin Franklin famously reprinted “Cato’s Letters” that warned that “whoever would overthrow the liberty of the nation, must begin by subduing the freedom of speech.”
And so it begins.
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