The Jimmy Kimmel Hanging show | Freedom of expression under pressure

(New York) For years, the American right has fulfilled against the “culture of cancellation” practiced by a “Woke” left which sought to silence its ideological enemies. However, with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, we see a spectacular reversal of roles in the United States.

Jimmy Kimmel, host of the end -of -evening show of the ABC channel, became the most famous of the victims of this phenomenon on Wednesday. During his monologue on Monday evening, this critic of Donald Trump made controversial remarks on the assassination of the conservative activist who prompted ABC to suspend his program “indefinitely”.

This suspension was announced in the wake of the decision of Nexstar Media, operator of 32 stations affiliated with ABC, to stop disseminating Jimmy Kimmel Live!

She also followed an outing of Brendan Carr, president of the Federal Communications for Communications and ally of Donald Trump, against the host.

Coming from an ideological current which has already denounced the interventions of the government aimed at polishing or repressing the free expression, he had promised to “take measures” against Disney and ABC. He had also encouraged the stations affiliated with ABC to stop broadcasting the end-of-evening talk show.

Speaking on the eve of the accusations against Tyler Robinson, the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue in an ambiguous way that Robinson was perhaps a pro-Trump republican.

The next day, the attorney general of Utah, Jeffrey Gray, portrayed Tyler Robinson as a sympathetic lonely wolf with the LGBTQ+cause.

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments on Mr. Kirk ‘death are offensive and insensitive to a critical moment in our national political debate, and we do not think that they reflect the range of opinions, points of view or values ​​of local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, president of the NEXSTAR radio division.

“Continuing to offer Mr. Kimmel a dissemination platform in the communities that we serve is simply not in the public interest at present,” he added.

“Excellent news,” said Trump

Brendan Carr praised Nexstar’s decision, as well as Donald Trump, who has often criticized Jimmy Kimmel. By commenting on CBS’s decision not to renew the contract of the host of the program The Late Show with Stephen Colbertanother of his criticisms, the president had predicted that the host of ABC was going to be the next to fall.

“Excellent news for America,” wrote the president on Truth Social, referring to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

In contrast, the Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker was worried about the pressures exerted by the Trump administration to control political discourse.

“What is at stake here is freedom of expression,” he said on MSNBC. “Overall, we saw the Trump administration using government power to attack all those who criticized it – and in this case Jimmy Kimmel. We all have to get up and express ourselves. »»

Jimmy Kimmel is only the most recent media personality to have been targeted and punished for remarks on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The same day in the tragedy, MSNBC Matthew Dowd’s political analyst was dismissed for having declared that Charlie Kirk had made “hateful words” and added that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which lead to hateful actions”.

The columnist of Washington Post Karen Attiah said on Monday that he was dismissed due to messages published on social networks. One of these messages recalled a declaration deemed racist by Charlie Kirk on known black women, including former first lady Michelle Obama and the judge of the Supreme Court Ketanji Brown Jackson.

“As a columnist, I used my voice to defend freedom and democracy, challenge power and reflect on culture and politics with honesty and conviction,” wrote the journalist on the substack site. “Now, I am the one who is silent – for doing my job. »»

Comments under the magnifying glass

Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, messages on social networks have cost hundreds of people, including teachers, soldiers and civil servants.

And it’s not over. With the support of the Trump administration, Charlie Kirk admirers and members of the Magan Movement scrutinize comments on social networks to identify the people who are delighted with the activist’s assassination.

“When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder,” denounce it. And damn it, call their employer, “said Vice-President JD Vance on Monday, who hosted a posthumous program of Charlie Kirk’s Broad.

The same day, the general prosecutor of the United States, Pam Bondi, went even further by promising to use the long arm of justice to suppress “hate speech”.

“There is freedom of expression, then there are hate speech, and there is no place (for that), especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society,” she said during a Balado program hosted by Katie Miller, wife of presidential advisor Stephen Miller.

Many conservatives have estimated that Pam Bondi had gone far too far. According to them, the remarks of the general prosecutor betrayed an ignorance of the first amendment of the Constitution.

“The first amendment absolutely protects freedom of expression,” said Texas Ted Cruz Republican Senator. “He absolutely protects hate speech. He protects ignoble speeches. He protects horrible speeches. What does that mean? This means that you cannot be prosecuted for your words, even if they are bad, sectarian and erroneous. »»

The conservatives used to make the same remarks about the media, academics or other figures who were harassed by the promoters of the culture of cancellation.