Dem
47
GOP
53
On Monday, late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel addressed the arrest of Tyler Robinson in his nightly monologue, remarking: "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." Notice that the comment is not really about Charlie Kirk at all, only about his alleged killer.
Still, MAGAworld is out for blood right now, and Kimmel is both a prominent media personality and an outspoken liberal. So, Donald Trump-appointed FCC Chair Brendan Carr did an interview with right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson and hinted that the FCC might just have to consider suspending ABC's broadcast license. That threw the fear of God into both Disney (ABC's owner) and into many of ABC's broadcast partners. And so, in very short order yesterday, Kimmel was suspended from his eponymous show. The decision came down so fast that the monologue that would have aired last night was getting the finishing touches, and the celebrity guests were already in the studio, when Kimmel got the news.
Maybe, once the raw emotion of Kirk's death has subsided, Kimmel's suspension will be lifted. But maybe not. Stephen Colbert already lost his late-night job from some combination of "the profits aren't there anymore" and "we can't risk offending MAGAworld," and maybe the same combo will subsume Kimmel. MAGAworld has a long memory, after all, and Disney/ABC can't put the entire operation in jeopardy for the sake of one show. On top of that, Kimmel has been hinting at retirement for a few years, and may decide this is a good time to ride off into the sunset.
That said, Donald Trump & Co. might want to be careful what they wish for. Late-night ratings are down, while podcasts have never been more popular. And Kimmel and Colbert are both naturals for podcasting, perhaps even a joint podcast, one that might fill the niche about to be left vacant by Marc Maron. Such a move might give them access to a larger audience, while at the same time removing the constraints imposed by network TV. If there's going to be a Joe Rogan of the left, Kimmel and/or Colbert have as good a chance of pulling that off as anyone.
And Kimmel's (temporary?) demise was not the only example of WrongThink to end up in the Trump administration's crosshairs yesterday. In fact, the President did what he's been itching to do for years, and designated Antifa as a "MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION." We guess if you're going to be a terrorist organization anyhow, better to be a MAJOR one, rather than a minor one. After all, everyone knows girls don't date guys from minor terrorist organizations.
Note that there isn't any legal impact of being a MAJOR terrorist organization (or a minor one), and there also isn't any legal impact of being labeled a domestic terrorist organization. The law does allow for people who aid and abet FOREIGN terrorists organizations to be charged with a crime, but there's nothing about domestic terrorist organizations. In the end, this is just: (1) red meat for the base, (2) an example of Trump trying to squeeze the death of Charlie Kirk for all it's worth and (3) a reminder that the word "terrorist" is very subjective (especially with this administration), and often doesn't mean much more than "group I/we do not like." (Z)