Obama Just Called Out Trump’s ‘Dangerous’ Response to Jimmy Kimmel’s Show Getting Pulled as His True Feelings Toward the President Are Revealed
Former President Barack Obama reacted to the news that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled from airing.
Obama took to social media to comment on the situation, writing, “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.” The former President also linked to a Vox article reposted by Yahoo! titled: “Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel.”
The former president continued, “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.”
On the Sept. 15 episode after the assassination of Kirk, Kimmel said in his monologue, “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.”
“In between the finger-pointing, there was, uh, grieving on Friday − the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.”
The host concluded, “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction. Demolition, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend; this is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK? And it didn’t just happen once. And then we installed the most beautiful chandelier. Responses you wouldn’t believe. Who thinks like that, and why are we building a $200 million chandelier in the White House? Is it possible that he’s doing it intentionally so he can be bad about that instead of the (Jeffrey) Epstein list?”
ABC pulled the show from its lineup after FCC Trump-appointed chairman Brendan Carr threatened to take action against the station and show. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on a podcast two days later after the episode aired. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
President Trump celebrated the suspension on his social media. Though Trump described it as a cancellation, ABC confirmed the show is only suspended “indefinitely.” He wrote, “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT”
Obama had previously criticized the administration without naming Trump at a talk at Hamilton College in April 2025. In a transcript of the conversation posted on his Medium, he said, I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech.”
“I am more troubled by the idea that a White House can say to law firms, ‘If you represent parties that we don’t like, we’re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively.’ That kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.
“Imagine if I had pulled Fox News’ credentials from the White House press corps. You’re laughing, but this is what’s happening. Imagine if I had said to law firms that were representing parties that were upset with policies my administration had initiated, that you will not be allowed into government buildings.”
