The Kimmel saga is a big win, and a lesson in how to fight Trump

The Kirk story was turned around by week's end to one of the First Amendment and free speech, as the White House was put on defense.

As happens often, the Trump administration overreached, this time after the brutal killing of Charlie Kirk.

A political assassination is something we all condemn. It was an opportunity for any president to bring the country together, and even welcome his opponents in their agreement with him on at least that one issue, condemning violence.

Instead, Trump, as well as JD Vance and Stephen Miller, went for revenge and retribution, threatening to prosecute non-profit groups like the Ford Foundation, and publications like The Nation. They urged people to dox anyone speaking harshly about Kirk on social media, and to call their employers—and many people lost their jobs.

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And then came the FCC chair Brendan Carr’s threat to ABC based on a comedian’s monologue, and the network quickly jumped to put Jimmy Kimmel on “indefinite suspension.”

This was the third time ABC and the parent company Disney were caving to Trump since he took office, just like some law firms and universities did. They didn’t get that you can settle a frivolous lawsuit and bow to Trump—and he will only come after you again, a maniacal shark seeing blood in the water.

This time, America did not sit back.

The public outrage was intense, and Kimmel is someone known to the vast majority of Americans, and beloved by many. So are the women on “The View,” which was also threatened by Carr. I said this on my SiriusXM show late last week and wrote as much here late on Friday: The entire story had been turned about—by Carr’s own zealousness—from one of political assassination of a far-right figure who was little known in the mainstream to one of free speech and popular culture, silencing well-known and popular voices simply for criticizing Trump.

And as I wrote last week as well, we all know this was about Kimmel’s criticism of Trump in that monologue and not about Kirk. Trump later talked about taking the licenses away from all networks that have news or comedians who criticize him.

The uproar was fast and furious, with Disney and Hulu subscriptions being canceled at a quick pace and some reports that Disney’s value had dropping dramatically. Figures from President Obama to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner slammed Disney for showing no leadership. Labor unions, in Hollywood and beyond, spoke out, protested and threatened further actions. Over 400 Hollywood celebrities signed a letter condemning the action, and some stars called for boycotts—even stars of Marvel, which is owned by Disney.

Then came conservatives like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, who compared the administration to Mafia thugs.

This was only going to grow. Disney had no way out but to bring Kimmel back, and he is returning tonight. Whether he apologizes or says his critics misunderstood his comments doesn’t really matter. His return proves that this was not about his “ratings” as Trump and Carr claimed, suddenly on the defensive. Carr was likely jolted by how quickly ABC caved after the companies that own the stations—Nexstar and Sinclair—had said they wouldn’t air the show after his comments, as both companies have mergers and other business before the FCC.

So it proved Trump and Carr to be liars and authoritarians hellbent on controlling speech, because obviously it wasn’t about ratings—and Kimmel will probably have ratings through the roof tonight. Sinclair is sticking to its threat and not airing the show in the couple of dozen markets in which it owns stations. We’ll see how that lasts, as they say they will “evaluate” it in time.

For now, let’s look at the lessons learned.

Sustained outrage from the public and boycotts, coupled with shaming of leaders of corporations—by other political and cultural leaders—worked here. Obama has lately been very active, thankfully, on social media, after early on being very subdued. That has made a difference. Hollywood celebrities, former media executives and the other comedians—well-known-and lesser-known—had a huge impact.

This is one of those incidents in which the left and progressives used culture in going on offense—when it’s often MAGA that is whipping up fake stories within the cultural space—and we need to do that over and over. Jimmy Kimmel—and all the rest of us defending him—did more for the First Amendment and waking up the country than any politicians or media have done.

Many people who weren’t tuned in or paying attention to what’s going on are suddenly aware that something bad is happening in America. We have to learn from that for the battles ahead.