Jimmy Kimmel Show Yanked Off Air: Chris Hayes Blasts Trump's 'Crackdown On Free Speech'- Here's What He Said

(MENAFN- Live Mint) After Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show on ABC was taken off air on Wednesday following the Donald Trump administration's threat to cancel broadcasting licences because of comments the host made about the conservative influencer Charlie Kirk's killing, political commentator Chris Hayes has criticised the move.

Hayes said the US president and wealthy oligarchs were aiming to transform the American media into a friendly propaganda arm of the regime.

“When Stephen Colbert announced that his late-night show was being cancelled back in July, the president United States, Donald Trump, had a chilling reaction,” Hayes said during a show on MSNBC News.

Also Read | Stephen Colbert taunts Trump after Emmy win: 'Donald Trump doesn't have one'

The political commentator also played a clip of Trump crowing about the decision and vowing that Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon would probably be next.

ABC's stunning move to remove one of America's most influential late-night shows was blasted by several critics as US government censorship but praised by Trump, who has long chafed at comedians who mock him.

"Great News for America," he wrote on his Truth Social page.

"Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," said Trump.

During his show, Hayes recapped the situation for viewers, explaining how during his monologue on Monday, Kimmel said that Tyler Robinson, the suspect who shot dead Kirk , was being used to stoke anger against the Left.

What Jimmy Kimmel said

"The MAGA gang (is) 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," said Kimmel, referring to the president's "Make America Great Again" movement.

Also Read | Trump goes after Kimmel: 'Lack of talent, bad ratings' as ABC suspends show

Kimmel then showed footage of Trump pivoting from a question about how he had been affected by Kirk's murder to boasting about the new ballroom he is building at the White House, prompting laughter from the studio audience.

"This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish," Kimmel said.

On Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, who while appearing on a conservative podcast threatened ABC parent company Disney and demanded Kimmel be suspended or fired.

Hours later, Nexstar and Sinclair, the two ABC affiliates, said they would stop airing“Kimmel” indefinitely. This led to ABC suspending Kimmel.

“If that were the whole story - he said something, it was not correct, the affiliates pushed back - Well, then that would be one story. But that, of course, is not the whole story. Okay? Because crucially, just hours before that statement, Trump's hand picked FCC Chairman went on a podcast and suggested ABC s broadcast license or affiliates could be at risk if they did not suspend or fire Kimmel essentially issuing an order saying, and I quote him here, 'we can do this the easy way or the hard way,'” Hayes said.

“This is just the latest chapter in Donald Trump's ongoing campaign to crack down on free speech, dominate the media and essentially render the First Amendment meaningless, an extreme campaign that has been on overdrive the past week,” Hayes continued.“I mean, just yesterday, you had the Deputy Attorney General of these United States, the number two... and the former criminal lawyer for the President, suggesting using criminal anti-racketeering laws, the kind of things used for mobsters, Rico statutes, to go after and prosecute protesters who heckled Donald Trump at a restaurant.”

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